Nordic-funded West Bank schools and other civilian structures are being destroyed in Palestinian communities where Finland, Sweden, Denmark and other European donors have funded humanitarian support for people at risk of forcible transfer.
The destruction is part of a wider escalation in the occupied West Bank, where settler violence and Israeli demolitions have increasingly targeted homes, schools, water systems and basic infrastructure built with international assistance. According to figures obtained by Finnish public broadcaster Yle from the West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC), settlers have destroyed at least 150 donor-funded structures since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
The verified damage is estimated at about €230,000, but the consortium says the real figure may be higher because insecurity has prevented access to some affected communities. The destroyed structures include schools and other basic facilities supported by Finland and by other European donor countries, including Nordic partners.
Nordic donors are part of a wider European protection system
The issue is not only about Finnish aid. The West Bank Protection Consortium is supported by EU humanitarian funding and several donor governments, including Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The consortium is led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, making the West Bank protection effort a distinctly Nordic as well as European humanitarian project.
A photograph from one donor-funded structure in the West Bank shows the logos of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Sweden, the European Union, and several other European donors. The sign describes the project as “Humanitarian Support to Palestinians at Risk of Forcible Transfer in the West Bank”.
The Nordic role reflects a broader foreign policy position shared by Finland, Sweden and Denmark: support for international humanitarian law, opposition to forced displacement, and backing for a negotiated two-state solution. In practice, this support has included funding for schools, shelter, water infrastructure and legal assistance in vulnerable Palestinian communities, especially in Area C of the West Bank.
Why small schools matter in Area C
The schools funded by European and Nordic donors are usually modest structures. They are often prefabricated buildings with a few classrooms, built for rural or Bedouin communities where children would otherwise have to travel long distances to reach education.
In the West Bank, that journey can be difficult and dangerous. Movement restrictions, checkpoints, settler harassment and road closures can make daily access to school unreliable. For families in remote communities, a local classroom can determine whether children continue their education and whether families are able to remain on their land.
WBPC director Allegra Pacheco told Yle that the consortium provides only essential support. The goal is not to build permanent luxury infrastructure, but to help communities maintain basic living conditions under pressure.
When a school is destroyed, the impact goes beyond education. Families may be forced to consider leaving the area, especially if the destruction is accompanied by threats, violence or the loss of access to water and shelter. For that reason, donor-funded schools are not only humanitarian infrastructure. They are also part of the effort to prevent displacement.
Khirbet Zanuta shows how pressure can empty a village
One of the destroyed schools was located in Khirbet Zanuta, a Bedouin village in the southern West Bank. An EU-funded school there was destroyed around late November and early December 2023, after months of intimidation and violence linked to settlers from a nearby unofficial outpost.
The village had already seen an earlier EU-backed school demolished by Israeli authorities soon after its completion. A new school was later built with European support. After the establishment of the nearby outpost of Havat Meitarim, residents reported harassment, threats and attacks.
Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem and media investigations have documented the pressure faced by Khirbet Zanuta’s residents. After Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 and the start of the Gaza war, settler violence in the area escalated. Residents began to flee.
The school was later destroyed with a bulldozer. Yle notes that there is no direct proof identifying the perpetrators, but villagers interviewed by B’Tselem and Belgian public broadcaster VRT said several elements pointed to residents of the nearby settlement outpost.
Khirbet Zanuta is one example of a wider pattern. In other West Bank communities, including Wadi Seeq and Ein Samiya, donor-funded schools and other structures have been demolished or vandalised after residents fled violence or pressure from settlers and Israeli authorities.
Israeli demolitions and settler attacks follow the same geography
Israel often justifies demolitions in the West Bank by citing the absence of building permits. This argument is especially relevant in Area C, which covers more than 60% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli civil and military control.
Human rights organisations and UN bodies have long argued that Palestinians in Area C face an almost impossible path to obtaining building permits. As a result, schools, homes and water systems built with donor support often remain under demolition threat from the moment they are built.
According to EU figures cited by Yle, between 2015 and 2024 Israeli authorities demolished or confiscated about 1,000 EU-funded structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with a total value of nearly €3.3 million. Since 2009, UN data indicates that Israeli authorities have demolished more than 14,000 Palestinian structures in the West Bank.
Settler violence has added another layer of pressure. The WBPC began systematically compiling data on settler destruction only after the escalation became severe following October 2023. According to the consortium, attacks have included vandalism, threats, intimidation, property destruction and violence against residents.
The result is a coercive environment in which Palestinian communities may leave without a formal expulsion order. Homes are demolished, schools are destroyed, access to land becomes unsafe, and daily life becomes increasingly difficult.
The two-state solution is being tested through infrastructure
For Nordic and European donors, the destruction of schools in the West Bank is not only a humanitarian issue. It is also directly linked to the future of the two-state solution.
Finland, Sweden and Denmark all support the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. But that goal depends on Palestinians being able to remain in key parts of the West Bank, including rural areas in Area C. When communities are displaced and nearby settlers take control of land, the territorial basis for a future Palestinian state becomes more fragmented.
Pacheco told Yle that the purpose of the pressure is to empty these areas of Palestinians so that Israel can take control, build settlements and prevent a viable Palestinian state. Her assessment reflects a concern shared by many European governments and human rights organisations: that settlement expansion, demolitions and settler violence are making Palestinian statehood harder to achieve in practice.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a central figure in Israel’s settlement policy, has openly described the planned E1 settlement as a project that would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”. European governments have strongly criticised the E1 plan because it would further divide the West Bank and restrict Palestinian access to East Jerusalem.
