Israeli settlers block West Bank schoolchildren's path with barbed wire, tear gas

UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank — Palestinian siblings attempting to walk to school in the occupied West Bank found their path blocked by coiled barbed wire that Israeli settlers had installed overnight, according to video provided to the Associated Press. When students and parents gathered Monday at the blocked route, armed men in an unmarked white truck — including some uniformed soldiers, the video shows — deployed tear gas and sound grenades.

The incident unfolded at Umm al-Khair, a Bedouin village adjacent to the Carmel settlement in the southern West Bank, as Palestinian children returned to class for the first time since the Iran war prompted school closures. Siblings Hajar and Rashid Hathaleen had always walked the roughly 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) path from their neighborhood of Khirbet Umm al-Khair to the village center, but on Monday they found Israeli flags, felled trees, and coils of wire blocking the way.

Palestinians in Umm al-Khair say settlers are exploiting the cover of the Iran war to accelerate land seizures, cut down olive groves, and raid neighboring villages, while the Israeli military has imposed additional wartime movement restrictions. Israeli settlers have killed eight Palestinians in the West Bank so far in 2026 — equal to the total for all of 2025 — according to the AP.

Monday’s confrontation

Children sat waiting near the blocked path for two days as parents and village leaders demanded they be allowed to pass. On Monday, they were met by tear gas and sound grenades hurled by armed men, including some uniformed soldiers, in an unmarked white truck, according to the video.

Israel’s military said its troops used “riot dispersal means” outside Carmel. It acknowledged that children were present but said the measures — which it did not detail — were directed at adults in the area, not the children. The Har Hevron Regional Council, the local government for settlements in the area, did not respond to questions about the fence.

The military’s civil administration unit told Umm al-Khair to divert students to an alternate route. But parents said that path is roughly twice as long and more dangerous, requiring students to pass near Carmel.

“We have deep concerns as parents and as residents that the (Israeli) occupation and soldiers will attack students,” said Al-Mutasim Hathaleen, a parent.

Some students reached school Tuesday on buses taking the alternate route. But classrooms sat half-empty and the playground was deserted. No school met Wednesday due to Palestinian Authority cuts to teacher salaries in the area. Khalil Hathaleen, head of the village council, said students would try again Thursday on their regular route.

Villagers describe pattern of wartime pressure

Khalil Hathaleen, who is a member of the extended family that makes up much of Umm al-Khair’s population, said settlers were using the war as cover for conduct that goes unchecked.

“It was a good chance for settlers to do what they want, with no rules,” he said.

He said the barbed wire followed a well-worn pattern in which settlers erect fences or claim farmland, then enforce the new reality with military backing. Israeli forces sometimes restrain settlers, he said, but more often defer to them.

“We are refused a solution,” he said.

Bedouins and other villagers have used the path for decades. “We are determined to keep it,” Khalil Hathaleen said.

Violence statistics and rights group findings

Israeli officials and military leaders have recently sounded the alarm over intensifying settler violence in the West Bank, where arsons and deadly attacks have continued. At least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers across the territory in 2026, according to the AP.

The Israeli rights group B’Tselem, following the killing of a 23-year-old Palestinian man by a settler, said what it described as “daily unbridled violence” amounted to Israeli government policy. The group noted that many of those involved in attacks are army reservists.

“These militias are fully backed by the state of Israel and enjoy complete impunity for killing, assaulting and looting Palestinian residents,” B’Tselem said.

Settlement status and village background

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. Israel views the territory as disputed and says its final status is subject to negotiations. Settlement outposts are built without formal Israeli authorization, but authorities sometimes legalize them retroactively rather than dismantling them.

Umm al-Khair’s plight was documented in the 2024 Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” but the recognition has done little to stem the violence or land grabs, residents say.