Israeli forces block Palestinian student protest after barring access to school
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Sari Jaradat
on
Tue, 04/21/2026 - 14:45
The latest crackdown in Umm al-Khair comes amid increasing settler violence
Residents of Umm al-Khair, Hebron, occupied West Bank, protest Israeli restrictions, 19 April 2026 (MEE/Sari Jaradat)
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Israeli forces dispersed a student protest in the village of Umm al-Khair on Sunday, after barring Palestinian residents from accessing schools for over a week.
Khalil Hathaleen, a local education official and a parent of two students, told Middle East Eye that his children were among 55 students barred from schools for the second week.
Israeli troops, armed and accompanied by security dogs, were stationed alongside their vehicles at the protests, which were mostly attended by schoolchildren.
The demonstration was sparked after residents were prevented from accessing a vital road between Khirbet Umm al-Khair and the nearby village of Umm al-Khair, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Dozens of students were left unable to attend school.
“Our message is clear, it is that today, they are attempting to take away our rights to education,” Hathaleen said.
“Our goal is clear in our demands to the right to education through safe routes to our children, a safe education and the end to demolitions in Khirbet Umm al-Khair.”
The main route connecting the village to external resources was first blocked over 10 days ago by settler leader Nivo, who holds a security role in the neighbouring Carmel settlement.
The settler set up a barbed wire fence stretching for at least 50 metres in the middle of the 1.5 metres wide road leading to the school, according to The New Arab citing Hathaleen.
Schoolchildren hold up signs during the demonstration against Israeli restrictions on the village of Umm al-Khair, 19 April 2026 (MEE/Sari Jaradat)
No alternative footpaths exist, except for one that passes through an illegal settlement outpost established after an Israeli settler shot and killed prominent Palestinian activist and English teacher Awdah Hathaleen.
Ahmad Hathaleen, a village resident, told MEE that the issue is “more than just a route closed off by a settler, because these settlers do not stop at a certain point”.
“These children are being denied a simple and vital right to education, which children all around the world are entitled to have,” Hathaleen said.
“The actions settlers have committed in Khirbet Umm al-Khair are a violation and consist of vicious acts against children, aimed at depriving them of the most basic right: education.”
The road that has been closed, although difficult to navigate, is among the safest routes around the village, Hathaleen explained.
He added that the recent closure is part of so-called “solutions” proposed by settlers, which would force schoolchildren to traverse “incredibly dangerous” paths of around three kilometres.
“We are denouncing these ‘solutions’ by the settlers, end of story,” he said, adding that families “will not back down” on their children’s right to education.
Spike in settler violence
The latest Israeli restrictions on Umm al-Khair are among a series of measures and violations against Palestinians in the area, amid rising settler violence aimed at driving locals from their homes.
The current residents of Umm al-Khair are refugees displaced during the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled by Jewish militias during the creation of Israel in 1948. They and their descendants have since lived in the village on land they purchased for more than 50 years.
The neighbouring Israeli settlement of Carmel was built in the 1980s on land belonging to Palestinians.
In the occupied West Bank village of Umm al-Khair, in the southern region of Masafer Yatta, Palestinian children are being denied education access as Israeli settlers and soldiers have closed the road they used to reach their school. pic.twitter.com/O8cGj8r3oS— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 21, 2026
While the village and its surrounding area have borne the brunt of settler violence, often backed and protected by Israeli forces, these attacks have intensified since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
A series of violations against Palestinian residents, including the torching and vandalising of infrastructure, shooting at civilians, and destruction of property, has fuelled fear and displacement across the occupied West Bank.
A United Nations report released on 17 March recorded that more than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank between November 2024 and October 2025 amid a spike in settler attacks.
During the same period, 1,732 incidents of settler violence causing casualties or property damage were documented, up 25 percent from the previous year.
More than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023 by Israeli forces or settlers.
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Mera Aladam
Hebron, occupied Palestine
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