West Bank parents fear after settler attacks on school

Oliver Conway (0:00)

This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 4 o'clock GMT on Tuesday the 8th of September. Palestinians in the occupied West Bank fear for their children's lives at school after an increase in settler attacks. Will Ukraine's third largest city, Odessa, crack down on the Russian language, even though it's spoken by most residents there? And staff at the Eiffel Tower go on strike after bosses agree to make the site a women-free zone for a visit by a conservative Hindu group.

Also in this podcast, King Charles makes it clear that Harry and Meghan's return to Britain doesn't make them working royals again.

Sophie Finnegan-Knight (0:43)

And when I saw it and re-spelled it, it felt like this was the first time we're actually doing it together, which was amazing.

Reese Finnegan-Knight (0:48)

It's so nice to have that before our babies actually with us as well.

Oliver Conway (0:51)

Yeah, exactly. 3D prints of ultrasound scans for parents who can't see.

Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law and a huge barrier to any future peace deal. Criticism over expansion plans has grown amid a rise in attacks by Jewish extremist settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Now the British government is preparing to announce sanctions on Israeli settlements there. We'll hear the details in a moment, but first to the West Bank itself and a village south of Nablus, where our correspondent Lucy Williamson has been speaking to Palestinians worried about their children's safety.

Lucy Williamson (1:36)

Not everyone came back to school in El Moraya this year. Three pupils here killed in the past few months, and those who did return found changes. The school itself freshly ringed with barbed wire.

In April, a 14-year-old pupil was shot dead by a settler outside the school gates, along with the brother of a teacher. Israel's army said an off-duty reservist had fired at suspects after stones were thrown. Over the summer, two more pupils were killed by Israeli forces after settlers entered the village.

The first lecture of the day. If you see settlers or soldiers, don't shout, don't approach, don't react. We're just a couple of hours into the school year here, and already I'm watching settlers take their sheep through the fields, just on the other side of the road. Residents say settlers have been coming further and further into the village every day.

SPEAKER_6 (2:41)

As they have done in all the West Bank, they want us to leave the school, to go inside the village. We are not going to leave our school. We are going to study inside our school. We are not going to leave this place.

Lucy Williamson (2:57)

Outside, a few parents stand guard during classes. On the road, ambulance crews. One said injuries from settler attacks here, including injured children, had risen this year, after Israeli soldiers had begun protecting settlers during assaults. A UN commission has described a pattern of settlers intentionally targeting Palestinian children as part of a strategy to drive Palestinians off their land.

In July, 9-year-old Saleem was shot in the arm while playing on his family farm outside Al Moriah. A security camera shows him spotting Israeli settlers nearby, the family running for shelter, as gunshots are heard.

The bullet still lodged in his arm. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, but growing violence by some settlers has increased pressure on Israel, including from the UK and Palestinian families who have watched the outpost here expand and now watching their kids.

Oliver Conway (4:09)

Our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson.

The measures expected to be announced by the British government on Tuesday include a reported ban on all products made in the Jewish settlements. The Israeli government has warned that it will retaliate. I heard more from our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams.

Paul Adams (4:26)

For the first time, the British government is going to move beyond a position which it's had for decades, which is that Jewish settlements in the Occupied West Bank are illegal, contrary to international law. Moving beyond that to a position now where the British government will say that any products grown or manufactured in those settlements will be banned. It's something that campaigners have been pushing for, for a long time. The government in the past has been reluctant to go down that route, sometimes arguing that it will be difficult to enforce, it will be difficult to establish what is and is not the product of a Jewish settlement, as opposed to coming from Israel proper.

But I think that the government, having last year recognized the state of Palestine, feels that it is now necessary to start taking action, which shows not just a rhetorical support for Palestinian aspirations, but also that the British government should be seen to be punishing what it sees as an increasingly untenable situation in the West Bank, with the expansion of Jewish settlements and of course, what we've seen in recent weeks, a real outbreak of settler violence.