ISRAEL/ OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territory Decades of tension between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory has caused generations to grow up in constant state of terror. Israel imposes severe restrictions on Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement and education, arbitrarily detaining Palestinians, including children. The Palestinian Authority (PA) security services beat peaceful demonstrators, and arbitrarily detain and harass scores of journalists. Children on both sides fall victim to military presence in and around their schools: Since September 2000, 43 schools have been occupied by Israeli troops and turned into military bases. The [IDF] has used schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for detention and interrogation. In February 2006, Israeli security forces used the Basic Girls School in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus for three days as a firing position. There was an increase in the number of attacks on schools and education facilities by Israeli security forces and settlers in 2010 (20 cases), compared to 2009 (9 cases). These attacks resulted in damage to schools or interruption of education, placing the safety of the children in Gaza and the West Bank at risk. The majority of cases involved the presence of Israeli security forces within school compounds following raids, forceful entry, and search and arrest operations, including the use of tear gas on students. In 2010, there were 24 documented cases of attacks on schools in the Occupied Palestinian Territories including demolition orders issued against schools, demolition of schools, military raids on school premises, use of schools for military purposes, and damage to educational infrastructure as a result of military activity.

Israel/OPT Continued In 11 instances in 2012, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) entered or attempted to enter West Bank school premises during search operations, to remove Palestinian flags from the rooftops of schools or for other unknown reasons, causing disruption to classes and sometimes damage to schools. In another four instances, the Israeli forces fired live ammunition or tear gas at schools. In addition, on six occasions, Israeli forces also entered the Haj Ma’zoz Al Masri Secondary School for Girls in Nablus to secure the area for Israeli settlers during night-time religious events. Hamas and other Palestinian groups endangered civilians by firing rockets from populated residential neighbourhoods. In one case, local residents said Hamas fighters had fired a rocket at night from the courtyard of a government school in the centre of Gaza City during Operation “Cast Lead”, when the schools were closed, and that the fighters were killed in an Israeli air strike on the street as they were leaving the school yard. PCHR detained and tortured people at the al-Quds Girls’ Secondary School, which became the de facto police headquarters after Israel bombed the Rafah police station

Israel/OPT Testimonies “We had to take over a school which is already a big problem—taking over a school and turning it into a detention facility when it’s actually an educational facility. We took over a school and had to arrest anyone in the village who was between the ages of 17 and It lasted from morning until noon the next day... All sorts of people arrived, shackled and blindfolded... When these detainees asked to go to the bathroom, and the soldiers took them there, they beat them to a pulp and cursed them for no reason.” - A former IDF first sergeant “Our battalion was in Hares because many stones were being thrown from that village at Israeli roads, so the army decided to collect information and find out who was in charge and organizing things. So this school was taken over to bring in all those people for Shabak interrogation.” - a former IDF Sergeant “Once, we came to a school and heard voices of children inside. The force stopped – no one was supposed to be there, especially not children... The orders were to throw a stun grenade to create panic, so anyone there would creep back to their holes. And that’s what happened. We entered one of the classrooms, we saw they’d left all their notebooks and stuff…” - a former IDF first sergeant

Israel/OPT Resources Amnesty International Report: “Israel/Gaza: Operation ‘Cast Lead’: 22 Days of Death and Destruction”“Israel/Gaza: Operation ‘Cast Lead’: 22 Days of Death and Destruction” Breaking the Silence Report: Children and Youth - Soldiers’ TestimoniesChildren and Youth - Soldiers’ Testimonies GCPEA Report: Lessons in War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions During ConflictLessons in War: Military Use of Schools and Other Education Institutions During Conflict Save the Children Report: Child Rights in the Occupied Palestinian TerritoryChild Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory UN Report: Children and armed conflict: Report of the Secretary-General, April 2011Children and armed conflict: Report of the Secretary-General, April 2011 UNESCO Report: Education Under Attack, 2007Education Under Attack, 2007