Illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinian school in West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Illegal Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian school northwest of Jericho in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to a local activist.

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 Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.

"The school administration kept the students in the classrooms, fearing that the settlers would attack them,” he added in a statement.

The school was repeatedly attacked by Israeli settlers in recent months.

Last month, eight students and teachers were injured in a settler attack on the building.

The Arab Al-Ka'abneh community is home to some 700 Palestinians living in tents and makeshift tin homes, who usually experience attacks by the settlers on their properties and lands.

According to Palestinian figures, there have been 2,777 settler attacks in the 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.

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

The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar