16/9/2025 – Union for Justice Foundation
For many years, the villages of Masafer Yatta have been subjected to a systematic campaign of demolition notices and construction halts by the Israeli Civil Administration. These measures target schools, homes, and community facilities in the area, despite the community’s clear need for essential structural and organizational infrastructure. Such policies have negatively impacted residents’ lives, forcing them to live in difficult and complex conditions. They have also led to ongoing deprivation of residents’ rights to own property and access basic educational and developmental facilities.
Recently, the Civil Administration issued a demolition order for Al-Rihiyya Secondary Boys’ School, located in the eastern Badia of Masafer Yatta. This school provides educational services to a large number of students. The order comes amid a series of similar notices affecting more than 10 schools in the area, alongside a continuous campaign targeting local homes. These actions place hundreds of families under threat of displacement and forced eviction. The Israeli policies reflect ongoing attempts to impose new realities on the ground and deprive Palestinians of their basic educational and developmental rights.
The school, which serves about 160 students from nearby villages, had just opened for the new academic year and offered a glimmer of hope for the community. The sudden and shocking demolition notice has caused widespread anxiety and despair among students and parents alike. It clearly reflects an Israeli policy aimed at demolishing educational and service infrastructure, which constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and deprives students of their natural right to education, contradicting the basic human rights enshrined in international conventions.
In addition, a construction halt notice was issued in Khashm al-Daraj, east of Yatta — another step in a long series of building halt orders targeting homes and vital facilities in Masafer Yatta. These arbitrary measures are part of a broader plan to displace the indigenous population and seize land by emptying it of its rightful owners, in direct violation of international law and divine principles.
The continuation of these policies has catastrophic consequences for the social and economic development of Masafer Yatta in particular, and Palestine as a whole. Residents are being deprived of their right to housing, education, and basic services, leaving Palestinian society facing existential challenges that threaten its identity and resilience.
Therefore, we urge the international community to act urgently and pressure the occupying authorities to stop these practices and ensure compliance with international laws that guarantee residents’ right to live in dignity. We also call for strengthening the resilience of residents through support for infrastructure and development projects that improve living conditions, help them remain on their land, and provide legal and political protection against ongoing violations. We affirm that Masafer Yatta is in dire need of support from international institutions and human rights bodies to stop these unjust policies and ensure residents’ rights to education, housing, and essential services, emphasizing that the steadfastness of the people on their land remains the first line of defense for Palestinian existence in the area.
