Dozens suffocate as Israeli forces crackdown on students in Hebron

HEBRON, Dozens of Palestinians and students today suffocated as Israeli soldiers cracked down on students near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said the heavily-armed manning the checkpoint, west of the Ibrahimi Mosque, opened fire towards students as the latter were on their way to schools, causing dozens to suffer from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Nine Palestinian schools are located in the H2 area of Hebron, which falls under Israel’s civil and military control and remains at the most risk of attacks. School children have to access the military checkpoints of Qitoun Checkpoint/209 and Checkpoint 160/29 in the H2 area to access their schools.

The area, which houses 32,000 Palestinians, is considered the most vulnerable to Israeli forces and settlers’ attacks which are regular enough to create a constant climate of fear and terror for students and their teachers, generating among them great psychological distress and anxiety and severely reducing levels of educational attainment.

Attacks on education by Israeli military forces and Israeli settlers in the Palestine constitute grave violations of children’s rights to education and development. These attacks are particularly prevalent in the most vulnerable areas of the West Bank – Area C, H2 and Jerusalem.

The city of Hebron, which houses the Ibrahimi Mosque, is home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian Muslims and about 800 Israeli settlers who live in compounds heavily guarded by Israeli troops.

Israel has expelled the only international monitors protecting Hebron’s Palestinians from 800 heavily guarded settlers, one of whom committed the 1994 massacre that triggered their deployment.

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency