Israeli Settlers Demolish Al-Maleh School In Northern Jordan Valley

Israeli colonists demolished the Al-Maleh School in the northern Jordan Valley on April 21, 2026, according to WAFA Agency.

“Nurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent Settlers overnight demolished a school in Hammamat al-Malih in the northern Jordan Valley using bulldozers, Palestinian media reports”

The Times of Israel

WAFA reported that the head of the Al-Maleh village council, Mahdi Daraghmeh, said settlers stormed the community and demolished the school and surrounding homes “last night.”

WAFA Agency

WAFA also said the demolition followed “ongoing attacks” that had previously forced Palestinian families to leave the area.

The Times of Israel similarly reported that settlers overnight demolished a school in Hammamat al-Malih in the northern Jordan Valley using bulldozers, citing Palestinian media reports.

The Times of Israel added that the site was reportedly covered with Israeli flags, and it published an image captioned in Arabic about the occupation destroying the Al-Malih basic mixed school and its facilities and contents.

A separate report from شبكة يافا الإخبارية said the Ministry of Education and Higher Education confirmed the demolition and bulldozing of Al-Maleh Elementary School in the northern Jordan Valley, which falls under the Tubas Directorate of Education.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية further stated that the Israeli forces and settlers also seized the school’s old building and raised Israeli flags over it.

Across the reports, the school’s location is consistently described as being in the northern Jordan Valley, with WAFA specifying “the Al-Maleh School” and The Times of Israel specifying “Hammamat al-Malih.”

WAFA described how the school’s student population had already been eroded by earlier attacks in the area.

WAFA quoted Azmi Balawneh, the Director of Education in Tubas, saying that approximately 70 students, from first to fourth grade, were receiving their basic education at the targeted school.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية

WAFA then said that due to colonists’ attacks that caused families to flee the area, the number of students dwindled to 30, then to 16, before the school was completely emptied after all the families were displaced.

WAFA added that the school employed seven staff members, including the principal, five teachers, and a services courier.

WAFA also said the Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated that al-Maleh School served around 70 students, from kindergarten through fourth grade, and had been subjected to repeated attacks, including vandalism, destruction of facilities and obstructing the access of its students.

In the same WAFA account, the ministry stressed that targeting educational institutions and infrastructure is a violation of international laws and conventions that guarantee the right to education.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية echoed the ministry’s framing by saying the destruction of Al-Maleh School constitutes a “new crime” targeting students’ right to safe access to education.

It also stated that the demolition came amid “increasing challenges facing the education sector in threatened areas,” particularly in the northern Jordan Valley, where it said the educational environment is negatively affected by actions that hinder stability and continuity.

The reports included direct statements from education officials and the ministry’s spokesperson framing.

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شبكة يافا الإخبارية

WAFA quoted Azmi Balawneh, the Director of Education in Tubas, describing the student numbers and the displacement that emptied the school.

WAFA also quoted Mahdi Daraghmeh, the head of the Al-Maleh village council, who reported that settlers stormed the community and demolished the school and surrounding homes.

In WAFA’s account, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education said the school served around 70 students from kindergarten through fourth grade and had been subjected to repeated attacks, including vandalism, destruction of facilities and obstructing the access of its students.

WAFA further said the ministry stressed “the urgent need to protect educational institutions from such attacks” and affirmed its commitment, “in cooperation with international and local partners,” to strengthening resilience of schools and students and ensuring continuity of education “under all circumstances.”

شبكة يافا الإخبارية presented the ministry’s position in more explicit legal language, stating that what Israeli occupation forces and settlers carried out “constitutes a new crime against students’ right to safe access to education.”

It added that targeting educational institutions and their related infrastructure is “contrary to international principles and laws that guarantee the protection of the right to education,” and it called for safeguarding that right and ensuring a safe and stable learning environment for students.

The Times of Israel described the demolition as being carried out using bulldozers and said Palestinian media reports indicated the site was covered with Israeli flags.

The outlets describe the Al-Maleh School demolition with overlapping details but different emphases and phrasing.

WAFA explicitly identifies the action as being carried out by “Israeli colonists” and says the demolition occurred “last night” in the northern Jordan Valley, with the date given as April 21, 2026.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية

The Times of Israel similarly says “Settlers overnight demolished a school in Hammamat al-Malih in the northern Jordan Valley using bulldozers,” but it frames the information as coming from “Palestinian media reports” and adds that “the site was reportedly covered with Israeli flags.”

WAFA’s account includes a detailed enrollment and staffing breakdown, saying the school employed seven staff members, including “the principal, five teachers, and a services courier,” and it states that the school was emptied after families were displaced.

شبكة يافا الإخبارية also ties the incident to the education ministry’s legal and rights-based framing, stating that the demolition and bulldozing, the seizure of the old building, and the raising of Israeli flags over it constitute a “new crime.”

It also states that the school served 70 students from kindergarten to fourth grade and had been subjected to repeated attacks.

The Times of Israel’s excerpt does not provide those enrollment and staffing figures, but it does include an image caption in Arabic about the occupation destroying the Al-Malih basic mixed school and its facilities and contents.

WAFA, meanwhile, includes a broader statement about international law, saying targeting educational institutions and infrastructure is “a violation of international laws and conventions that guarantee the right to education.”

The reports portray the demolition as part of a broader pattern of disruption to education in threatened areas, and they describe steps the education authorities say they will take.

“THE JORDAN VALLEY, April 21, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli colonists demolished the Al-Maleh School in the northern Jordan Valley last night”

WAFA Agency

WAFA states that the demolition comes “amid mounting challenges facing the education sector in Palestine, particularly in highly threatened areas such as the northern Jordan Valley,” and it says these attacks “negatively impact the learning environment and disrupt its stability and continuity.”

WAFA Agency

WAFA also says the Ministry of Education and Higher Education stresses the urgent need to protect educational institutions from such attacks and affirms its commitment, “in cooperation with international and local partners,” to strengthening resilience of schools and students and ensuring continuity of education “under all circumstances.”

شبكة يافا الإخبارية similarly says the ministry called for safeguarding students’ right to safe access to education and ensuring a safe and stable learning environment, while also affirming continued efforts “in cooperation with all partners” to strengthen resilience and “to work on providing alternatives that ensure the continuity of the educational process under all circumstances.”

In WAFA’s account, the ministry also frames the targeting of educational institutions and infrastructure as a violation of international laws and conventions that guarantee the right to education.

WAFA’s description of the school’s gradual emptying—from “approximately 70 students” to “30,” then “16,” and finally to a completely emptied school—underscores the continuity problem that the ministry says it is trying to address.

The Times of Israel, in contrast, focuses on the immediate physical destruction and the reported flag display, noting that “No further details were immediately available.”

Even so, the Times of Israel’s mention of bulldozers and the reported Israeli flags aligns with the ministry’s claim in شبكة يافا الإخبارية that Israeli flags were raised over the seized school building.