Israel settlers attack 2 Palestinian schools in West Bank

Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian schools yesterday in the village of Al-Jab’a in Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank.

Local sources reported that a group of settlers hurled stones at Al-Jab’a Boys’ Primary School and Al-Tawafuq Mixed Secondary School, southwest of Bethlehem, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

The students were left in a state of panic and were sent home early, according to the agency.

The village of Al-Jab’a has been subjected to ongoing settler violence, including attacks on residents and property, the burning and cutting down of trees and the confiscation and bulldozing of large areas of land.

Palestinians assert that Israeli authorities are lenient towards settler attacks as part of an official effort to intensify settlement expansion in the occupied territories.

According to data from the Palestinian government’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, settler violence since 7 October 2023 has resulted in the killing of 19 Palestinians, injuries to more than 785 people, and the displacement of 28 Bedouin communities.

UN OCHA recorded about 1,360 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians between 7 October 2023 and 16 September.

In May, the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem revealed a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to displace Palestinian residents and shepherds from their lands in the occupied West Bank in cooperation with settlers, describing it as part of Israel’s “apartheid system.”

Israeli estimates suggest that more than 720,000 settlers live in illegal settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza on 7 October, Israeli forces and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of 689 Palestinians.

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