Israeli troops fire tear gas at Palestinian schoolchildren

Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinian schoolchildren staging a sit-in in the occupied West Bank after settlers blocked access to their school.

The Israeli military claimed it had dispersed an "unusual gathering", but did not specify whether its troops had fired tear gas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran.

The incident took place at Umm al-Khair, a small village in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Schoolchildren there had been due back in class today for the first time in more than 40 days, after lessons were suspended when the US and Israel began attacking Iran on 28 February.

A group of schoolchildren and Palestinian residents had gathered near a barbed wire fence erected by Israeli settlers, which blocked access to the school.

Schoolchildren and some local adults were holding an open-air class as a sit-in to demand access when troops fired the tear gas, witnesses said.

"We were sitting and they threw a grenade (tear gas canister) at us. I got scared and started screaming and ran away," 12-year-old Sarah al-Hathaleen said.

"I started crying. A woman hugged me and stayed with me. We were very scared."

Bassam Jabr, director of education for the Masafer Yatta area, confirmed the children were staging a sit-in at the time of the incident.

"Settlers are trying to tighten the noose on us in every way. One of these methods is cutting off the road for school students and expanding the settlement," Mr Jabr said of settlers from the nearby illegal Carmel settlement whose residents erected the fence.

"Sadly, there are no solutions. We will continue this sit-in today and tomorrow until we find a solution so the students can return to their schools," he said.

"Last night we were excited for school today. The Israelis came and closed the road with barbed wire... we want to be back in school," said 11-year-old Rashid al-Hathaleen.

(Pictured: Israeli soldiers in Hebron in the occupied West Bank during a raid on a school)