MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / October 2, 2023
The Ministry of Education has suspended classes in the village of Burqa after a child was wounded by Israeli forces who raided the school.
Classes were suspended in the village of Burqa, northwest of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, on Monday, after Israeli forces opened fire in the school a day earlier.
Israeli forces stormed the school, firing live rounds and tear gas, leaving a child wounded and dozens suffering from smoke inhalation.
Acting governor of Nablus, Ghassan Daghlas, said the decision to close the school was to maintain the safety of students in the wake of the Israeli aggression.
According to local media, Israeli forces also prevented teachers from accessing 27 schools in Masafer Yatta, located south of the West Bank city of Hebron/Al-Khalil.
Israeli forces placed barriers to block the roads as well as large cement cubes, preventing access to the schools and also stopping people from exiting the area.
Reports in local media said the raids and the move to block access to the schools were part of an Israeli forces’ search for the perpetrator of a reported shooting attack that damaged settler homes in Hebron.
Raid on Old City
The raid on the school and road closures came on the same day as Israeli forces raided parts of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Videos shared online showed heavily armed forces beating and attacking elderly Palestinian women walking through the Old City.
The attacks coincide with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, where security is tightened to pave the way for Jewish worshippers to perform rituals in the Old City.
Hundreds of Jewish settlers also stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards on Sunday and Monday.
Israeli forces enforced restrictions on the entry of worshippers to the mosque and assaulted Palestinians trying to enter the site.
