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LAST UPDATE | 24 Apr
THE DEPARTMENT OF Foreign Affairs has said Ireland and several other nations will seek compensation from Israel after a school co-funded by Irish Aid was demolished by settlers in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.
The West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC), which Irish Aid provides funding for, reported this week that Israeli settlers had attacked and destroyed most structures in the Bedouin community of Hamamat al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley region of the West bank on Tuesday evening.
The Department told The Journal that there had been a “significant increase in violent Israeli settler activity” in the area in recent days, and noted that the community itself had already been forcibly displaced.
Among the structures destroyed was a community school which had served around 60 children.
The school had been co-funded and renovated with support from Ireland and 11 EU donors (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden), as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and the EU’s humanitarian arm DG ECHO.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign affairs said that Ireland now plans to seek reimbursement from Israeli authorities for the destruction of the school.
“Ireland and partners will call on Israel to reimburse the costs of the Hamamat al-Maleh school,” the department spokesperson said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee said in a statement that the destruction of the school “is not only unacceptable, it is indefensible.”
“I am appalled and deeply angered by the reported destruction of homes and critical civilian infrastructure,” McEntee said.
“That this community had already been forcibly displaced makes these actions all the more egregious.”
McEntee said that the targeting of vulnerable communities and essential services “represents a grave violation of international humanitarian law and an assault on basic human dignity.”
“My Department will formally demand full reimbursement from the Israeli authorities for the destruction of the EU- and donor-funded school and associated structures,” the minister added.
The call for compensation from Israel comes after previous efforts by Ireland and the consortium to recover costs linked to damaged or confiscated infrastructure.
In February, Ireland and its West Bank Protection Consortium partners formally sought €1.7 million in compensation from Israeli authorities in relation to assets destroyed or seized since 2015, but have yet to receive any payment.
Local activists and human rights groups, including B’Tselem, said settlers entered the village of Hammamat al-Maleh with bulldozers and demolished the school and other community structures.
They said the destruction followed months of repeated incidents in the area, including earlier raids in March when settlers allegedly vandalised the school, stole equipment, smashed solar panels, damaged security cameras and destroyed water infrastructure.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into areas A, B and C – under Palestinian, mixed and Israeli governance respectively.
The Hammamat al-Maleh community, which sits in Area C of the West Bank, has for years faced pressure from settlement expansion and outposts in the surrounding Jordan Valley.
Area C of the West Bank is fully controlled by Israel under the Oslo Accords but it is considered by the international community to be part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Around 300,000 Palestinians live there, alongside roughly 400,000 Israeli settlers.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal. They violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans an occupying power from transferring its population to the area it occupies.
Hammamat al-Maleh, which has a population of roughly 40 people, has seen much of its shepherding community displaced in recent months due to what activists describe as sustained intimidation and violence.
The school had been one of the last functioning institutions in the area, alongside a kindergarten, and had been repeatedly targeted despite remaining operational.
In a statement, local advocacy group Jordan Valley activists said the demolition formed part of a wider pattern of escalation in the region.
Incidents reported earlier this year include allegations that settlers intimidated children and staff, filmed pupils near the school, and attempted to enter nearby homes.
In one incident in February, activists said armed individuals raided the school principal’s office and nearby houses at night, damaging property and threatening residents.
The wider area also contains a historic Ottoman-era stone building, which residents say has become symbolic amid rising tensions.
On Wednesday, settlers reportedly raised Israeli flags and a Star of David over the structure, which locals described as an act of intimidation.
The West Bank Protection Consortium, which supports vulnerable communities across the north of the West Bank, has previously documented repeated stop-work and demolition orders affecting education infrastructure in Hammamat al-Maleh, including classrooms, fencing, solar panels and playground facilities.
It has also raised concerns over repeated disruptions to schooling across the region, including movement restrictions and settler activity preventing children from reaching classes in nearby communities.
Across the northern Jordan Valley, activists say similar patterns are being reported in other small herder communities, where schools and transport routes have increasingly come under pressure.
Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.
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