Israel forces fire tear gas as Palestinian students leave school

Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian school students yesterday in the town of al-Khader, located south of Bethlehem in the northern occupied West Bank.

According to Wafa news agency, Israeli forces raided the town, firing live ammunition into the air and launching tear gas canisters and stun grenades at students as they left their schools. While no injuries were reported, the attack caused widespread panic among students, with some being chased by the soldiers.

These attacks have been frequent since the beginning of the school year, with students regularly harassed as they leave school. The school complex is located in the Old City, near the illegal Separation Wall and a colonial road.

It comes after illegal Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian school northwest of Jericho in the occupied West Bank earlier this week.

Settlers hurled stones at the Bedouin Al-Ka’abneh Elementary School in the Arab Al-Ka’abneh community, smashing windows and surveillance cameras, said Hassan Mleihat of the non-governmental Al-Baidar Organisation for the Defence of Bedouin Rights.

According to Palestinian figures, there have been 2,777 settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza last year, resulting in the deaths of 19 Palestinians and the displacement of 292 families from 28 Bedouin communities.

According to data from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, there are half a million illegal settlers in 146 settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank. Both settlements and settler outposts are illegal under international law.

At least 763 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 6,300 others injured by Israeli occupation army fire in the occupied territory since October last year, according to the Health Ministry.

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