UMM AL-KHAIR — Dozens of Palestinian children from the Bedouin community of Umm al-Khair marched on Sunday morning toward a barbed-wire fence blocking the route to their school in Area C of the occupied West Bank. The children held posters, sang songs, banged drums, and chanted "Open the road!" in English at Israeli soldiers standing on the other side of the fence.

The march was the first action of a new initiative called the Umm al-Khair Freedom School. At 7 a.m., parents, teachers, and community members walked beside the children, who carried a banner reading "Umm al-Khair Freedom School" as they approached the fence. For stretches of time during the protest, the children sat on rocks next to the barbed wire, took out their books, and began working on schoolwork. A security guard from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel watched and at times waved mockingly and mimicked the children's songs.

Palestinian schools in the area were closed for more than 40 days during the US-Israeli war on Iran. A ceasefire last week allowed schools in the West Bank to reopen three days a week. When the children returned, they found the barbed-wire fence blocking the path to their school one kilometer away. Security camera footage recorded by community members showed settlers erecting the fence during the night. When children tried to go around it, Israeli soldiers launched tear gas and sound grenades at children as young as five.

"It was a very violent situation," said Khalil Hathaleen, head of the Umm al-Khair village council. According to Khalil Hathaleen, the path was established in 1980 and is recorded on both Israeli Civil Administration and Palestinian maps as a designated pedestrian route for students. The path also serves women accessing a nearby health clinic and worshippers accessing a mosque, both now inaccessible because of the fence. Shortly after erecting the fence, settlers built a large Star of David with stones on the side inaccessible to schoolchildren. Soldiers have refused to take down the barrier.

Israeli authorities offered an alternative route approximately three kilometers long, which residents rejected because it would force children to pass through new settler outposts next to their community. Several settler caravans have been installed along the same road since last summer, and the caravans now sit directly behind the village's community center and family homes. Last month, five-year-old Siwar Hathaleen was struck by a settler's car while crossing through Umm al-Khair and was admitted to hospital with a head injury.

"Education is a right for everyone, including the children of Umm al-Khair. It's not right to block their road," said Tareq Hathaleen, who teaches grades four through eight at the blocked school.

"Please open the road for us. We want to go to school," said Masa Hathaleen, a student at the march.