HEBRON, West Bank, 26 June 2005 — Israeli soldiers yesterday left three Palestinian schools in the West Bank town of Hebron that they had used for four years as posts to observe militants. The army said it left the buildings to “ease restrictions on residents” and after reassessing the security situation. Troops set up an observation post 200 meters from one of the schools, but said Palestinians will be allowed to reach and enter all of them freely.
Palestinians walked across broken glass from smashed windows and pushed aside shattered doors as they assessed the damage to the schools, once frequented by more than 2,000 students. Officials plan to rebuild and open them in a month.
Troops seized the schools, in a Palestinian-controlled area overlooking a Jewish settlement, after a Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000. Israeli and Palestinian leaders declared a truce in February, although violence has flared in recent weeks.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority control different parts of Hebron, where about 500 heavily guarded Jewish settlers live among 120,000 Palestinians. It has often been the scene of deadly clashes. “My four daughters went to the school and I was worried about my four daughters walking among soldiers and settlers to reach other schools,” said resident Mohammed Al-Jabari.
“I am glad to hear the students will be able to resume their normal studies,” said governor Arif Al-Jabari. “But Hebron is in a miserable situation. The occupation still exists.” Palestinians say Israel restricts their freedom of movement in the city with closures and roadblocks.
An AFP correspondent who visited the schools following the army’s departure found a trail of devastation, with walls demolished, windows, doors, chairs and tables destroyed and filth everywhere. “I am really happy that they have left, but I am sad about the state the soldiers left them in,” Mohamed Al-Qawasme, head of the Education Ministry in Hebron, told AFP.
Examining the destruction left behind by the troops, Qawasme said the schools would have to be largely rebuilt. Before being taken over by the army, they served around 2,000 pupils between the ages of six and 15. “This situation caused a lot of problems because we had to run double teaching shifts at schools throughout the city in order to accommodate these pupils,” Qawasme said. The Israeli Army said the schools had been taken over in order to ensure “the safety of the Jewish residents of Hebron in an area which has a very active Hamas infrastructure.”
