On Thursday, August 16, Israeli occupation forces demolished yet another Palestinian school near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. The school was catering to nearly 50 Palestinian students belonging to the al-Qaboun Bedouin community living near the village of Kafr Malik, Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
According to the village council head Najeh Rustom, nearly 500 Bedouins living in the area were forced to leave after they were repeatedly attacked by illegal Israeli settlers in the region.
The demolition of schools, hospitals, and houses belonging to Palestinians has been a part of the occupation forces’ policy of displacing them to occupy their land to build illegal settlements.
In just two weeks between July 25 and August 7, Israel demolished at least 56 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released last week.
Israeli forces often cite lack of permits for the demolition of Palestinian buildings. However, it is almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain such permits from Israeli authorities.
In most cases, the occupation authorities force Palestinians to demolish their houses or even charge them for such demolition.
The demolition of houses leaves hundreds of Palestinians homeless every year. According to OCHA, the demolitions between July 25 and August 7 left at least 23 Palestinians, including 12 children, homeless, and 3,500 others without any sources of livelihoods.
According to the OCHR report, at least 477 Palestinians, including 261 children, have been forced to leave their homes between 2022 and 2023 so far due to violence unleashed by illegal settlers or confiscation of grazing land in different parts of the occupied West Bank.
More Palestinians in Masafer Yatta and other localities across the occupied territories are facing imminent displacement by the occupation forces.
Palestinian land is converted into illegal settlements
Settlers, under the protection of Israeli security forces, often attack Palestinian villages, destroy properties belonging to them, and occupy their agricultural fields with impunity. Later, these Palestinian lands are converted into illegal settlements with the help of the Israeli state.
There are close to 200 big and small illegal Israeli settlements inside the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem where close to 700,000 Israelis illegally live under heavy state security.
The Benjamin Netanyahu-led ultra right-wing government, supported by leaders of the settler movements such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, has intensified the use of this strategy since coming to power last year.
In less than a year in power, the Netanyahu government has approved the construction of thousands of new housing units for illegal settlers inside the occupied West Bank with a plan to construct a total of 12,855 more units in the near future, Middle East Eye reported.
Smotrich, who heads the Israeli ministry of finance and settlements, announced on Wednesday that his ministry is planning to provide financial support worth $180 million to all illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
At the same time, the finance ministry has refused to provide $55 million which was slated for the development of Palestinian municipalities inside Israel and over $670 million for the same in occupied East Jerusalem recently.
