Israeli occupying forces today demolished a Palestinian school in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to eyewitnesses, a large number of Israeli occupation forces broke into the Shuafat refugee camp and evacuated the students and faculty before the demolition of the two-story building. No warning was given prior to the demolition and no official reason has been released as to why it took place.

The checkpoint near the school was closed to traffic and pedestrians by occupation forces at the time.

There were reports that occupation forces beat teachers during the operation.

READ: Israeli forces stop and search Palestinian children on their way to school

Occupation forces regularly level Palestinian property in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, claiming that it is built without the impossible to obtain building permits.

Nearly all Palestinian applications for building permits are denied by the Israeli authorities, forcing communities to build illegally.

Israeli Palestinian rights group Adalah says that only 4.6 per cent of new homes built in Israel are in Palestinian towns and villages, even though Palestinians make up over 20 per cent of the population.

In 2015, the United Nations, as well as other members of the international community, verbally condemned Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian homes and declared the practice illegal and unfair.