RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) A group of Jewish settlers on Wednesday attacked a boys’ school in the Palestinian village of Ourif near the West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official. On Tuesday, large number of settlers attacked Palestinians picking their olive trees in area between Talfit and Qaryout villages.

“Scores of Jewish settlers from the nearby Yitzhar settlement attacked the school with stones,” Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official in charge of settlement affairs, told Anadolu Agency.

“The settlers were backed by Israeli troops who fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the students,” Daghlas said.

According to the official, at least one Palestinian student was injured after being struck by a rubber bullet.

Daghlas added that classes were dismissed and hundreds of students were forced to evacuate the school’s premises.

Earlier on Tuesday, many Jewish settlers attacked Palestinians while picking their olive trees, in the area between Talfit and Qaryout villages, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israel’s illegal activities, said dozens of settlers invaded the Palestinian orchards, and attacked many villagers picking their olive trees, in addition to attempting to force them out of their orchards.

Daghlas added that the attack was carried out by more than 150 settlers, who came for a number of illegal settlements and outposts, which were built illegally on private Palestinian lands.

A group of illegal Israeli settlers invaded, on Tuesday morning, Palestinian agricultural lands in Bruqin village, west of Salfit in northeastern West Bank, and uprooted 39 olive and almond trees owned by a Palestinian farmer.

Bashir Salama, the head of Bruqin Local Council, said the Israeli assailants invaded lands, owned by a local farmer identified as Jamal Othman Salama, before cutting and uprooting 39 olive and almond trees.

The invaded Palestinian lands are near the illegal Brokhin colony, close to bypass road #446.

The farmer, Jamal Salama, said that, in 2011, the Israeli settlers cut and burnt 200 olive trees, and uprooted 40 olive saplings in 2017, to install water pipelines for their illegal colonies, built on private Palestinian lands.

Jewish settlers have cut, uprooted and burnt nearly 5000 trees, mainly olive trees, owned by several farmers, since the beginning of this year.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education released its annual report for 2017 documenting the Israeli government’s violations against Palestinian education, saying that 80,279 Palestinian children and 4,929 teachers and staff were “attacked” by Israeli settlers or soldiers.

More than 650,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler “outposts” (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.

Additional report from Imemc.org

[Archive photos: Jewish settlers prevent Palestinians working at Burin village in West Bank on 9 March 2015. Photographer: Nedal Eshtayah/AA]