Condemn Israeli Tear Gas Attack on Schoolchildren in the West Bank

Condemn Israeli Tear Gas Attack on Schoolchildren in the West Bank I am writing to express my outrage regarding a horrific incident in the occupied West Bank this week that has received far too little attention. On Monday, Israeli settlers blocked the 3-kilometer path to school in the village of Umm al-Khair with barbed wire, preventing Palestinian children from attending class. When siblings Hajar and Rashid Hathaleen attempted to reach school, armed men in an unmarked truck—including Israeli soldiers—fired tear gas directly at them. These are children. Trying to go to school. The Israeli military claimed troops used "riot dispersal means" directed at adults, not students. But the children were there. They were the ones walking to class. They were the ones who inhaled tear gas. They were the ones who will carry this trauma. Village council head Khalil Hathaleen explained that settlers are exploiting the regional war to seize land, stating, "It was a good chance for settlers to do what they want, with no rules." He is correct. Under the cover of the war on Gaza and the escalation in Iran, settler violence in the West Bank has intensified with near-total impunity. The result? Classrooms are now half-empty. Children are afraid to walk to school. Their education—already under threat from Palestinian Authority salary cuts—is being systematically destroyed by armed settlers and soldiers who face no consequences. This is not security. This is collective punishment. This is the deliberate targeting of children and their right to education. The United States provides billions in military aid to Israel each year. That aid is being used to tear gas schoolchildren and protect armed settlers seizing Palestinian land. I demand that you: 1. Publicly condemn the tear gassing of schoolchildren and the surge in settler violence. 2. Call for an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israel as long as these abuses continue. 3. Support sanctions on Israeli settlers and officials responsible for violence against Palestinian civilians. No more children should be tear gassed on their way to school. No more American weapons for this.