UMM KHAIR: Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinian schoolchildren staging a sit-in on Monday in the occupied West Bank, footage showed, after settlers blocked access to their school.

The Israeli military confirmed it had dispersed an “unusual gathering”, but did not specify whether its troops had fired tear gas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the Iran war.

The incident took place at Umm al-Khair, a small village in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Schoolchildren there had been due back in class on Monday for the first time in more than 40 days, after lessons were suspended following the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28.

A group of schoolchildren and Palestinian residents had gathered near a barbed wire fence erected by Israeli settlers, which blocked access to the school, a journalist reported.

Schoolchildren and some local adults were holding an open-air class as a sit-in to demand access when troops fired the tear gas, witnesses said.

“We were sitting and they threw a grenade (tear gas canister) at us. I got scared and started screaming and ran away,” 12-year-old Sarah al-Hathaleen said.

“I started crying. A woman hugged me and stayed with me. We were very scared.” Bassam Jabr, director of education for the Masafer Yatta area, confirmed the children were staging a sit-in at the time of the incident.

“Settlers are trying to tighten the noose on us in every way. One of these methods is cutting off the road for school students and expanding the settlement,” Jabr said of settlers from the nearby Carmel settlement whose residents erected the fence.

“Sadly, there are no solutions. We will continue this sit-in today and tomorrow until we find a solution so the students can return to their schools,” he said.

Israel’s military said troops had been dispatched to the area.

“IDF soldiers were dispatched to the area of Umm Al-Khair due to reports of an unusual gathering of Palestinians in the area,” the military said.

“The gathering was dispersed and no injuries were reported,” it said, without specifying whether tear gas had been fired. A footage showed canisters being fired, with children screaming and fleeing. “Last night we were excited for school today. The Israelis came and closed the road with barbed wire... we want to be back in school,” said 11-year-old Rashid al-Hathaleen.

The Masafer Yatta region is a known hotspot for settler violence and Palestinian home demolitions.

It was in Umm al-Khair village that Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen was killed by a settler inAugust 2025.

Settler violence has also surged across the West Bank since the outbreak of the Iran war. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2026