Israeli siege disrupts education for nearly 80,000 Palestinian students in al-Khalil

The restrictions affected 220 public, private and UN-operated schools in the central al-Khalil education district, the union said in a Sunday statement reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

According to the statement, displaced students had been deprived not only of classroom instruction but also of their books and study places, while teachers have also faced difficulties reaching their schools.

In a separate incident on Sunday, Israeli forces detained 10 teachers from Jinba Basic Mixed School for several hours on Khallat al-Dabaa Road in Masafer Yatta, south of al-Khalil. The troops also held the teachers’ vehicle, leaving students waiting and interrupting classes.

The union denounced the road closures and detentions, describing them as “an assault on the right to education and on people’s lives and dignity.”

It called on education unions around the world to translate their solidarity into pressure on governments to ensure access to schools and safeguard students and teachers.

The union also urged Education International, a global federation of education unions, to spearhead diplomatic efforts and dispatch a delegation to al-Khalil and the Masafer Yatta area to document the consequences of the restrictions.

The Israeli operation entered its 10th consecutive day on Sunday, with more than 3,300 Palestinians reportedly displaced or otherwise affected, particularly in the al-Jalda and Ain Deir Bahha areas. The operation has also resulted in the demolition of 15 homes and other structures.

Israeli forces have imposed closures on al-Khalil and nearby villages, taken over homes for use as military posts, and carried out demolitions and infrastructure damage that have disrupted residents’ daily lives.

The Israeli occupation army launched its offensive in al-Khalil on October 23 following an operation by two Palestinians that killed two Israeli soldiers and injured three others near a checkpoint. The army later killed the two Palestinians.

Since then, Israeli forces have imposed a comprehensive military closure on al-Khalil and surrounding villages, seizing Palestinian homes in the Jalda and Ain Deir Baha neighborhoods and converting them into military barracks, with Israeli flags raised above them.