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As barbed wire blocks kids from class, Palestinians stage 'Freedom ...
Umm al-Khair, occupied West Bank – Just old enough to utter complete sentences in a small, wavering voice, Masa Hathaleen, five, stands before the barbed wire fence blocking her path to school. “I am Masa,” she pleaded. “Please open the road for us. We want to go to school. We are not doing anything wrong. We just have our books. We love our school.”Masa was one of dozens of children, book bags in tow, who marched on Sunday morning towards the fence that now blocks the route the youngsters of the Bedouin community of Umm al-Khair have used for decades to reach their school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The schoolchildren held up posters, sang songs and chanted in English at soldiers who watched from the other side: “Open the road!”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Photos: Displaced Lebanese families return home despite Israeli attackslist 2 of 3Trump to send US delegation to Pakistan for possible Iran talkslist 3 of 3Satellite images reveal Israel expanding Gaza military sitesend of listFor more than 40 days during the US-Israeli war on Iran, Palestinian schools were closed in the area. But last week when a ceasefire allowed Palestinian schools in the West Bank to reopen – even if for only three days a week – the children in Umm al-Khair arrived to find the fence blocking the path to their school a kilometre (0.6 miles) away.When the children tried to go around the fence, soldiers launched tear gas and sound grenades at children as young as five years old.“It was a very violent situation,” said Khalil Hathaleen, the head of the Umm al-Khair village council, whose young children are among those attending the school. “Until now, some children haven’t returned to the site because of fear. They can’t sleep.”Security camera footage recorded by community members showed settlers coming during the night to erect the barbed wire fence. Despite being erected without legal authorisation, soldiers have refused to take down the barrier in a community that faces imminent Israeli demolition orders later this month due to a lack of building permits. Such permits are almost never granted to Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, which is entirely under the control of Israel.Shortly after the fence went up, a large Star of David was built with stones by settlers on the side of the fence that the Palestinian schoolchildren can no longer access.Desperate to get their children back in school, the community launched Sunday’s march as part of a new initiative,...
Settlers block Palestinian children's path to school with barbed wire ...
Jerusalem Post/Middle EastKhalil Hathaleen, head of the Umm al-Khair village council, said the barbed wire prevented children from taking their usual path through a valley to the school in the village center.Palestinian school children sit by a barbed wire fence installed by settlers, which blocked their access to the school in Umm al-Khair village in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, April 14, 2026. (photo credit: REUTERS/YOSRI ALJAMAL)ByREUTERSAPRIL 16, 2026 18:05Updated: APRIL 16, 2026 19:36Dozens of Palestinian children have been unable to go to school in the West Bank this week because of barbed wire erected by Jewish settlers across the path they normally use.Dozens of children tried on Monday to get to school in the small village of Umm al-Khair near the city of Hebron for the first time since the war with Iran began. They found their way blocked by barbed wire, which villagers said had been placed there by Israelis from the nearby Carmel settlement.Khalil Hathaleen, head of the Umm al-Khair village council, said the barbed wire prevented children from the outskirts of the village from taking their usual path through a valley to the school in the village center.Otherwise, he said, the children would have to walk along a road which he described as dangerous. "We insist on using the main path that our children have always taken," he said.Israeli human rights group B'Tselem claimed that the barbed wire was part of a coordinated campaign by settlers to intimidate Palestinians and drive them from their land in the West Bank.Palestinian students gather near a fence installed by settlers in their way to school, near Umm al-Khair village in Masafer Yatta, in the West Bank, April 14, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/YOSRI ALJAMAL)Classes had been suspended at the start of the Iran war, during which debris from intercepted Iranian missiles had at times fallen on the West Bank.IDF claims fence was erected after repeated attempted incursions into CarmelIn a statement, the Israeli military said on Monday that soldiers had used "riot dispersal means" against several adult Palestinians who it said had tried to reach the security perimeter of the Carmel settlement. The military acknowledged that children were present but said they were not targeted.The Yesha Council told Reuters that "a barrier was put in place to protect the residents of Carmel, in coordination with Israeli security authorities" after repeated attempted incursions into Carmel. It said there were other routes...
West Bank students forced to study outdoors after illegal settlers ...
Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank were forced to hold classes outdoors after illegal Israeli settlers blocked the main road to school with a fence and barbed wire, Anadolu reports.
Israeli settlers block Palestinian children's school path, fire tear ...
But their route was cut off, with coils of barbed wire blocking the path, stopping them and dozens of other children as young as five from getting to school.
