By Aysar Alais
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Illegal Israeli settlers on Thursday attacked two Palestinian schools, a primary and a secondary, with stones in the village of Jab’a near Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, forcing the panic-stricken children to flee for safety.
According to local sources, a group of illegal Israeli settlers hurled stones at the Jab'a Boys' Primary School and the co-educational Al-Tawafuq Secondary School in the southwest of Bethlehem.
No injuries were reported, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Students panicked, prompting the school administration to quickly evacuate them to their homes, Wafa added.
Jab’a village has been under continuous illegal Israeli settler attacks, including assaults on residents and property, tree burnings and land grabbing.
Palestinians say Israeli authorities are lenient with attacking illegal settlers as part of official efforts to intensify settlement activities in the occupied territories.
According to Israeli estimates, more than 720,000 settlers live in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
At least 710 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,700 others injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank since last Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry.
The escalation follows a landmark opinion by the International Court of Justice last July 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 Mohammad Sio