At least 30 Palestinian children suffered choked on teargas, one of them reported in critical condition, after Israeli forces and settlers attacked on Thursday their elementary school in the Old City of al-Khalil, in the southern occupied West Bank.

Medics at the school’s clinic said Israeli soldiers fired teargas canisters towards schoolchildren, resulting in scores of suffocation cases, including one who was rushed to Mohammed Ali Hospital in critical condition.

According to the school’s headmaster a number of settlers took part in the attack on the school alongside the soldiers, including one identified as Ofer and known for his extremist and racist views against the Palestinians.

Israeli attacks against Palestinians in al-Khalil, most of it under Israeli army control, have increased since the international civilian monitoring team, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), has been forced out of the city earlier this month after Israeli occupation authorities refused to extend its mandate after 22 years of service in the occupied city.