Arab News | Number of West Bank students affected by settler violence, Israeli restrictions more than doubles: Save the Children

LONDON: For thousands of Palestinian children across the West Bank, getting to school has become increasingly dangerous as Israeli movement restrictions and settler attacks force them to miss classes, relocate or abandon their education, Save the Children said.

The number of students whose education was disrupted by settler violence and Israeli military restrictions more than doubled in the first 50 days of the school year compared with the same period last year, the aid group said in a statement received by Arab News.

“Schools and the routes to them should be free from any danger. No child should ever have to flee their classroom out of fear for their life,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children International’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

“The fact that more than twice as many students have been affected compared to this time last year should sound an alarm,” he said. “Every school day lost to violence represents a deprivation of learning opportunities, stability, and a sense of security.”

The Education Cluster, a humanitarian coordination group co-led by Save the Children and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, documented 174 education-related incidents affecting 140 schools and 24,500 students between Sept. 1 and Oct. 20 — a 121-percent increase from about 11,100 students a year earlier.

Students lost more than 875 hours of schooling, compared with about 174 hours during the same period in 2025, an increase of more than 400 percent.

The disruptions also include widespread restrictions on movement. Across the West Bank, 942 checkpoints, closure points and physical barriers restrict travel, according to figures cited by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

For many children, the disruption begins before they reach the classroom. In late September, access restrictions prevented 10 children in the Tubas governorate from reaching school, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

One family temporarily relocated three children so they could continue attending classes, while the other seven remained without access to in-person education.

School transport has also come under attack. In Masafer Yatta, settlers blocked a vehicle collecting students from Al-Fakheit School for more than two hours on Oct. 12.

The following day, settlers attacked two school vehicles with stones and sticks, damaging one while children were inside, OCHA reported. The incidents affected 24 students from four communities; no injuries were reported.

The violence has extended to school grounds. On Oct. 19, staff at Jalud Co-educational Elementary School, south of Nablus, evacuated students and sent them home after settlers tried to break into the building, WAFA reported, citing the head of the village council.

Alongside settler violence, Save the Children cited incidents involving Israeli forces that disrupted schooling and endangered students and teachers.

Several students returning home from school in East Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighborhood suffered tear gas inhalation on Sept. 16 after Israeli forces fired tear gas nearby, the group said.

It also cited the detention of students heading to school in Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, on Oct. 4, and teachers traveling to Susiya Elementary School in Masafer Yatta on Oct. 19.

Save the Children called for an immediate end to attacks on children, teachers and educational facilities across the occupied Palestinian territory, including Gaza. It also urged the removal of barriers to education, protection for schools threatened with demolition and independent investigations to hold those responsible accountable.