Nablus (QNN)- Israeli occupation forces earlier on Sunday harassed, intimidated and obstructed the access of Palestinian schoolchildren to their school in Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
In the village of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya in Nablus, the occupation forces were seen harassing and intimidating the Palestinian students while they were in their way to their school in the early morning hours.
The forces also obstructed the access of the Palestinian students to the as-Sawiya / al-Lubban ash-Sharqiyya school by stopping an searching them.
In the same context, the Israeli forces earlier today stormed the town of Sa’ir in Hebron and detained five children, all under the age of 15, after raiding and searching their homes.
In the West Bank, education is compulsory for children under 15.
However, Israel’s network of military checkpoints impedes the movement of all Palestinians, meaning that otherwise short journeys can take several hours.
For Palestinian children that must pass through Israeli military checkpoints to reach school, this results in missed class time, as well as subjecting children to violence, intimidation, and arbitrary arrest as children must interact with Israeli occupation forces on their way to school.
Israeli forces’ attacks on schools and other education-related incidents, including attacks on educational personnel, threats of attacks, military use of schools, and other interferences with education, significantly impacted Palestinian children’s right to access education.
In 2019, the United Nations documented 257 education-related incidents in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip that impacted children’s right to access education.
Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are routinely denied many rights: right to life, right to education, right to adequate housing, and are denied access to healthcare, among other rights denials inherent in a decades-long Israeli military occupation with no end in sight.
There are 4,850 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including 225 child prisoners.