Illegal Israeli settlers heavily damaged a Palestinian school in the southern West Bank, in their latest attack in the occupied territory, a local official has said.
According to the official news agency Wafa, the settlers rampaged through the Zanuta School east of Al-Dhahiriya, south of Hebron city, and stole its contents on Sunday.
Municipal chief Fayez Al-Tal said the school was renovated by villagers in preparation for receiving students.
“Illegal settlers had previously attacked and destroyed the school multiple times and assaulted villagers and attacked their homes,” he added.
Palestinian Ministry of Education spokesman Sadiq Al-Khadour condemned the settler attack as “a new attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from their villages."
A group of Jewish settlers have raided a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank, according to local media on Sunday.
‘Vital work’
Speaking to Anadolu, Khadour said his ministry has been working to rehabilitate the school, which serves about 40 children from remote communities in the area.
“This school provides essential humanitarian services to citizens in marginalised areas,” he said, calling on human rights organisations, especially UNICEF, to “ensure that this and other schools in remote areas can continue their vital work."
In November 2023, illegal Israeli settlers demolished the Zanuta School after forcibly displacing more than 250 residents from the village in late October.
After more than nine months of forced displacement, the villagers secured an order from an Israeli court in August 2024, allowing them to return to their homes.
Nearly 960 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others wounded in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
Last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
