Ramallah, February 21 (RHC)-- A Palestinian Authority official says six Palestinians were injured in clashes after Israeli settlers attacked a high school south of Nablus in the north of the occupied West Bank. The attack took place against Burin High School on Thursday, according to PA official Ghassan Daghlas.

Ma'an News Agency reported that the incident led to the subsequent intervention of dozens of villagers and Israeli forces, who fired tear gas during the clashes. Daghlas added that dozens of Palestinians suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.

A day earlier, settlers hurled rocks at schoolchildren in the village of Burin and beat up a 50-year-old man in a similar attack on the village. Settlers frequently attack a number of local villages and prevent farmers from reaching their lands, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Israel occupied the Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank during the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel conducted a withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, but Israeli forces have been carrying out regular deadly forays into the Strip ever since the pullout.

The United Nations regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured in the war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.