Palestinian parents fear for children's lives at school as settler attacks grow

Key Points:

• The al-Mughayyir boys school in the occupied West Bank has heightened security measures, including barbed wire and reinforced gates, due to a surge in settler-related violence that has killed six people, including three pupils, this year.
• Several pupils, including 14-year-old Aws al-Naasan, were shot dead by settlers near the school, with Israeli military investigations ongoing; Israeli forces have been accused by locals of increasingly protecting settlers rather than intervening.
• Parents and teachers express deep fear for children's safety amid frequent settler incursions supported by Israeli soldiers, with some parents volunteering to guard the school and ambulance crews stationed outside.
• A UN report highlights a pattern of settlers intentionally targeting Palestinian children to pressure families to leave their land, a claim Israel denies, while settler violence continues to escalate around al-Mughayyir and other West Bank villages.
• Despite some arrests and plans to dismantle illegal outposts, settler attacks persist, and recent Israeli government moves toward land control in the West Bank raise concerns about annexation and worsening tensions ahead of upcoming elections.