Israel army 'plans demolition of Hebron schools'

Israeli authorities on Wednesday presented demolition orders for the Khirbet Susa primary school south of Yatta village and threatened to close the Zeif primary school south of Hebron, locals said. Rateb Jabbour, a popular committee official in Yatta, told Ma’an that soldiers and the army's civil administration entered Susa school and handed the principal a demolition notice. It includes demolishing the school, an under-construction well, the health unit of the school, and three greenhouses near the structure, Jabbour says. He added that there are 36 students, seven teachers, and the principal at the school. Israeli forces easily demolished the school last year, as it was only made of tents. The principal of the Zeif primary school told Ma’an that soldiers warned him they would close the school. The director of the ministry of education’s office south of Hebron, Fawzi Abu Hleil, considered the demolition warnings to be an arbitrary action that would leave children uneducated. Abu Hleil said the Susa faculty had managed to encourage people to send their children to school for education, allowing them to remain in the area despite difficult living conditions.