RAMALLAH, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians, including a child, were killed and three others injured on Tuesday during an attack by Israeli settlers in a village east of Ramallah in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry identified the deceased as 14-year-old Aws al-Nassan and 32-year-old Jihad Abu Naim.
Palestinian sources said a group of armed settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Al-Mughayyir, under the protection of Israeli army forces, opening fire toward a local school, causing the casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday it is investigating the incident.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli settlers reportedly demolished a Palestinian school near the city of Tubas in the West Bank, an act that drew condemnation from Palestinians.
Mu'taz Bisharat, an official with the Palestinian Authority's Governorate of Tubas and Northern Valleys, told Xinhua that Israeli settlers stormed the al-Malih community at dawn and demolished the school, which has approximately 70 students, from kindergarten to the fourth grade.
Sadiq al-Khadour, spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Education, condemned the demolition, describing it as "a new crime against students' right to safe access to education."
Israeli forces and settlers have demolished approximately 10 schools in the West Bank over the past years, according to Al-Khadour, who urged the international community and international organizations in Palestine to pressure Israel to halt attacks on schools.
Hassan Mleihat, Director General of the al-Baydar Foundation for the Defense of Bedouin Communities, told Xinhua that settlers have escalated their attacks against Palestinian communities since October 7, 2023.
These attacks have forced 83 Palestinian communities to flee their homes, Mleihat said. These communities are home to approximately 14,000 people.
According to the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israeli forces and settlers carried out 1,819 attacks in March, including 1,322 by the army and 497 by settlers.
Israel seized control of the West Bank after the 1967 war and established settlements there that the international community considers illegal.
More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank alongside approximately 3.4 million Palestinians, and clashes between the two sides frequently escalate into violence. ■
