A Western bloc of countries including Belgium has called on Israel to immediately cease demolishing Palestinian schools and confiscating houses and property in the occupied West Bank.
Israel must respect its obligation as an occupying power to guarantee the right to education of the occupied Palestinian population, a 13-country bloc of mainly European countries said on Wednesday.
The joint statement was issued by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, together with the European Union and the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
Since 7 October, violence has further increased in the West Bank, including with the continued demolition of Palestinian infrastructure – a large part of which is funded by European countries.
"Palestinian schools in Area C – including those funded by donors – remain vulnerable to Israeli demolitions and settler violence," the statement reads. "Palestinian children’s right to an education is undermined by Israel’s planning and zoning system in Area C which prevents Palestinian development and construction of schools in Area C."
The statement calls for a reversal of the decision made by the Israeli Civil Administration to demolish a donor-funded school in Amera, Hebron, which will leave 39 Palestinian schoolchildren deprived of their basic right to education. The nearest alternative schools are approximately 5km away, which seriously affects the right to education of many vulnerable students.
"Without adequate transport, students must make the long journey by foot, exposed to settler attacks, a heavily trafficked road and inclement weather," the countries said. "Under these conditions, girls and children with disabilities in particular are at a high risk of dropping out."
Since 2022, Israeli authorities have demolished three donor-funded schools. In addition, three donor-funded schools have been vandalised by Israeli settlers and are currently not operational, according to the statement.
In this context, the Western coalition calls on Israel "to cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, of designating land for exclusive Israeli use and of denying Palestinian development." Failure to do so seriously undermines a two state solution and is a major impediment to peace and security, the coalition stresses.
47 active Enabel projects
Belgium is a large funder of education in Palestine since 2000. Between 2010 and 2020, it spent in one programme alone over €38 million on school construction and rehabilitation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It has also been involved funding projects on curriculums and school books, work-based learning initiatives and teacher-trainings.
Belgium helped build 32 schools in Palestine in that same period, which benefitted over 11,000 schoolchildren. Currently, Belgium's development agency Enabel has 47 active projects in Palestine. Last week, Enabel's offices in Gaza were bombed and destroyed.
In a separate development, the Brussels-Capital Region will send €430,000 in aid to the occupied Palestinian territories, the Brussels Secretary of State for International Relations, Ans Persoons, announced on Thursday.
