The key facts

  • About 80,000 students missed school last week due to the blockade of Hebron
  • Classes disrupted at 220 state, private and UN-run schools
  • The Israeli operation in Hebron is in its tenth day, affecting more than 3,300 Palestinians

Blockade disrupts schooling at 220 schools

Nearly 80,000 Palestinian schoolchildren were unable to attend classes last week due to the Israeli siege of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, it was reported on Sunday by the General Union of Palestinian Teachers. According to the union's figures cited by the WAFA news agency, road closures disrupted the work of 220 schools — state, private and UN-run — in the central education district of Hebron. The blockade also forced 537 families to leave their homes.

Detention of teachers and impact on students

For displaced students, the problem is not limited to missed lessons: many have lost access to textbooks and places to study, while teachers cannot reach schools, the union's statement said. On Sunday, Israeli forces detained for several hours ten teachers from the Jinba co-ed elementary school on the Hallat al-Daba road in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron — the vehicle was held, and students waited for their teachers, disrupting the school day. The union described the road closures and the detention of teachers and students as

Tenth day of the operation

On Sunday, the Israeli operation in Hebron entered its tenth consecutive day; according to the union, it has displaced or affected more than 3,300 Palestinians, particularly in the al-Jalda and Ain Deir Bahha areas. Fifteen homes and other structures have been demolished. The military sealed off Hebron and surrounding villages, seized homes and converted them into military posts, while demolitions and damage to infrastructure have disrupted daily life. The report is based on a statement by the union as cited by the Turkish Anadolu agency; the figures cited have not been independently verified in the publication.