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Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished a Palestinian school in the northern Jordan valley for being built without a permit, according to a local Palestinian official.
“Israeli military force raided the village of Ibzeeq near the West Bank city of Tubas and dismantled two caravans used as a school,” Moataz Bsharat, who is in charge of tracking Israeli settlement activity in Tubas and Jordan Valley, told Anadolu agency.
“Students and teachers were prevented by Israeli forces from approaching the school before razing it,” he said.
Israeli naval forces on Tuesday detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to a local official.“The two fishermen were arrested while fishing off northern Gaza’s shores,” Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza's fishermen union, told Anadolu Agency.He said Israeli forces also confiscated the boat of the two fishermen.Tuesday’s arrest came despite an Israeli decision to increase the fishing area for six nautical miles.There was no comment from Israeli authorities on the arrest.Roughly 50,000 Gazans earn their living through fishing, according to the fishermen union.After Israel's devastating 2014 military onslaught on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip (which left more than 2,150 Palestinians dead), Israel began to allow Palestinian fishermen to ply their trade up to six nautical miles off the coast (as opposed to three previously).In May of this year, Israel increased this to nine nautical miles.One month later, however, Israel reduced this again to only three nautical miles in response to the launching of incendiary kites and balloons into Israel by Palestinian activists in Gaza.The kite/balloon attacks came as part of ongoing Palestinian rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to protest Israel’s 12-year blockade of the coastal enclave.Since the rallies -- which have continued on an almost-daily basis -- began on March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.Gazans set sail to break Israeli siegeIsraeli court conditionally releases Jerusalem governor
Israel arrests two Palestinian fishermen off Gaza coast
The makeshift school was opened by the Palestinian Education Ministry to serve students in Bedouin communities facing demolition by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank.
Last week, Israeli authorities closed a school in the West Bank city of Nablus, claiming that students were hurling stones at Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Under the 1995 Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), the West Bank -- including East Jerusalem -- was divided into Areas A, B and C.
Area A falls under the administrative and security control of the PA; Area B falls under the administrative control of the PA and the security control of Israel; and Area C falls under the administrative and security control of Israel.
Area C is currently home to around 300,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Bedouins and herding communities who predominantly live in tents, caravans and caves.