ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers heavily damaged a Palestinian school in the southern West Bank on Sunday, in their latest attack in the occupied territory, a local official 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.

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."

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 marginalized areas,” he said, calling on human rights organizations, 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 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the 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.