Israel attacks Palestinian primary school

Israeli forces yesterday shelled a Bethlehem primary school for girls with tear gas. 100 girls were injured, Al-Ahram daily said today.

Israel claimed the accident was just a mistake, as it wanted to disperse some demonstrations that happened to be close to the school. The demonstrations were in response to the Israeli collective punishment measures imposed on Palestinians because of a double-suicide bomb exploded in a Jerusalem market on July 30.

Israeli army chief Lieutenant-general Amnon Shahak said he did not expect an explosion of the situation in the region in the near future, yet there has been tension and anger which could lead to an explosion.

Meanwhile, the Hamas movement refused a call from the Palestinian Authority to stop attacking Israeli settlers in the West Bank.