On November 23, 2022, 23 children came to school, as they do every morning in the village of A-Safai. Shortly after classes started, they saw bulldozers accompanied by many military forces approaching the school.
The school was built three months earlier to serve the children of the surrounding area. Before that, some of the children studied in an improvised improper building and tents, while others had to walk a few kilometers each direction, every day, to attend school. On their way they had to pass through military checkpoints and sometimes had to wait for a checkpoint to open and be late for school.
The soldiers who came that morning surrounded the school. The classrooms were locked, and a soldier was positioned to guard each classroom door. Parents and Human Rights activists began gathering outside the school. Soldiers threw stun grenades at those standing outside. Frightened children jumped out of the windows. The soldiers confiscated the school’s supplies and loaded them onto trucks. The bulldozers destroyed the building. Children approached the soldiers and said: The school will be rebuilt.
Once again, the children returned to study in improper conditions as before. At least one girl has given up school and is now helping the family to graze the flock.
On December 6, 2022, the occupation forces returned during school hours, confiscated the school’s supplies again, demolished the tents and declared the area closed military zone. Since then the children have been studying outdoors.
The village of A-Safai is located in the Masafer Yatta area of the south Hebron hills. Like other villagers in the area, its residents are about to be expelled from their homes because Israel has confiscated the land and declared it a firing zone for military training purposes.
This is how the State of Israel conducts ethnic cleansing.
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