UMM AL-KHAIR — At least 55 Palestinian children have been prevented from attending school for 10 school days after Israeli settlers erected a barbed-wire fence blocking the route to their classrooms in the occupied West Bank, according to Save the Children. Children in Umm al-Khair, in the Hebron governorate, have been unable to attend school for nearly two months while the road remains blocked.

Students, teachers and families have staged daily peaceful sit-ins at the site of the fence and turned the area beside it into an informal outdoor classroom. Some of the children were exposed to tear gas during the demonstrations, according to the West Bank Education Cluster.

"No child should be denied the right to education, too scared to walk to school or be faced with violence while travelling to school," Save the Children regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Ahmad Alhendawi said. Alhendawi also warned of long-term consequences for children kept out of classrooms.

"They need to get back to the classroom not only for their own individual development, but for the future of Palestinian society," he said. Save the Children works in Umm al-Khair directly and through its partner, the Agricultural Development Association (PARC), providing essential supplies and livelihood support including winter kits and animal feed, according to the organization.

The community's struggle was featured in the 2024 Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. Israeli settlements and outposts built on occupied Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law.

Since October 7, 2023, more than 1,100 Palestinians, including more than 230 children, have been killed in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Separately, schools across the West Bank had been shut for more than 40 days following the launch of a war on Iran by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026.