The European Union Representative to the West Bank and Gaza, leading a coalition of European diplomatic initiatives, urged the Israeli occupation to end the demolition of educational and other structures that were constructed with humanitarian support in the West Bank, along with granting humanitarian organizations open access to the area.
On Friday, the consulates general of Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the representative offices of Denmark, Finland, Germany and Ireland, as well as the EU office to the West Bank and Gaza strongly criticized the Israeli occupation for recently demolishing an EU-funded school in the Palestinian village of Jubbet al-Dhib near Bethlehem, and the possibility of demolishing 57 more schools in the West Bank.
In the start of May 2023, the Israeli occupation forces pulled down an EU-funded school built by Palestinians in Jubbet al-Dhib in 2017.
The EU severely censured the action, with a spokesperson voicing shock over the demolition.
The diplomatic missions on Friday urged the Israeli occupation to refund or recompense the total value of donor-funded humanitarian items, assumed to be 1,291,000 euros, approximately $1.4 million, which have been destroyed, taken apart, or taken away since 2015.
The missions on Friday expressed extreme worry for the more than 1,000 Palestinians destined for displacement from Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank, as the Israeli occupation forces declaring it as a firing zone.
The Israeli Supreme Court maintained its order to oust Palestinians of Masafer Yatta in May of last year following a long legal dispute that spanned two decades.
Most Palestinians who lived in that area stayed, while Israeli occupation forces went in intermittently to demolish buildings.
In 1979, Israeli forces occupied around 30 square kilometers, calling this area Firing Zone 918.
Since then, the Israeli occupation have attempted to forces Palestinians out who reside in the 8 villages located within the area.
The Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta say that they had been living there prior to turning it to a firing range, thus their displacement is not permissible under Israeli law.