Israel banned UNRWA from operating on Israeli land, including occupied East Jerusalem [GETTY]
Israeli officials from the Israeli Ministry of Education, accompanied by the police, raided six schools affiliated with the UN aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA and announced plans to close the facilities.
Abir Ismail, director of UNRWA’s information office, described the announcement as “a violation of the right of Palestinian refugee children to receive education and threatens to deprive hundreds of children of their basic right to education within their country”.
Israeli raids on schools
This comes as Israeli forces also raided the Al-Quds University campus in the occupied region, firing teargas at students who confronted the soldiers after the raid.
Around 23 students suffered from smoke inhalation after inhaling the gas, while Israeli soldiers also fired sound bombs towards students.
Videos show students running out of the campus while Israeli forces fired at them. Local sources told Wafa the soldiers broke into the campus ahead of a protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.
The army also raised a school in Bethlehem, firing teargas and sound bombs towards students, with no reports of injuries or detentions.
Meanwhile, a university student was assaulted in Tulkarm, and Israeli forces detained others. Eyewitnesses told Wafa the soldiers beat the student from the Faculty of Agriculture at An-Najah University, beating him and smashing his phone. He was then thrown on the street after being taken.
Israeli settlers also attempted to run over a Palestinian teacher in Jericho while she was on her way to work – the same group also chased students going to school. A group of settlers also attacked a Palestinian man in Tubas.
Israeli detentions continue
This comes as Israeli forces detained at least 35 Palestinians over the past 24 hours as the army continues with its detention campaign throughout the occupied region, according to the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestine Prisoners Society.
Among the detainees include former prisoners and hostages who were held by Israeli forces to pressure a family member to surrender themselves.
Three siblings were also detained in Nablus after Israeli forces stormed the city and surrounded the village where the siblings were. A Palestinian man was also injured by Israeli fire during the raid.
Israeli police have been detaining and harassing hundreds of Palestinian workers over the past few weeks under the claim they do not have permits during their field operations, which have escalated.
Israeli forces have been continuing with their offensive on the occupied West Bank, now entering its third month, conducting wide-scale operations in cities including Tulkarm and Jenin.
The army has been raiding and demolishing Palestinian homes, having blown up a house in the Jenin refugee camp after rigging it with explosives, as well as destroying homes in the southern West Bank. A home in Bethlehem was also torn down.
At the same time, Israeli settlers set fire and spray-painted “Death to Arabs” at a wedding hall in Salfit.
Over 500 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 2023 by Israeli forces and settlers.
