Israeli settlers protected by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a violent attack on the Bedouin Arab Al-Ka’abneh elementary school in the Arab Al-Mleihat area of the occupied West Bank.
A video that surfaced on social media on Monday, September 16, captured Israeli settlers wielding crowbars as they attacked students and teachers. Seven students were reportedly injured.
According to the reports, following the assault, the IDF arrested the principal and a teacher of the school, on accusations of attacking the settlers.
The incident follows multiple reports of a broader pattern of settler violence against Palestinians in couped territories. The Jewish settler gangs often with the tacit support or protection of the IDF, have targeted schools, homes, and agricultural lands belonging to the Palestinians.
On August 22, Israeli illegal settlers attacked the Palestinian village, Jit, near Nablus, leaving one Palestinian dead and several others wounded.
It is pertinent to mention here that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are illegal under international law, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
In the July 2024 advisory opinion, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s occupation of these territories since 1967, and the construction of settlements and exploitation of natural resources, are illegal.
Taking to an X-platform, Borrell strongly commended the targeted violence and described it as the action of “terrorising Palestinian civilians”.
The European Union has frequently advised Israel to uphold its responsibilities as an occupying power and combat discrimination and targeted violence against Palestinians. However, Israeli incursions and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank have continued to increase.
Instead of taking any action to combat these attacks, the Israeli army continuously provides machine guns to the illegal settlers in the West Bank in the name of “self-defence.”
