'I miss school': Israeli violence forces Hebron students into remote learning

Eight-year-old Haneen Abu-Shamsiya is supposed to be sitting in her classroom in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, but for months now, she has been forced into online learning after her school closed down due to Israeli military restrictions around the city.

Since the war on Gaza broke out on 7 October, around 2,000 Palestinian students in Hebron have been studying online. The Israeli army has closed all roads leading to around 50 schools in the city, installing barriers and checkpoints that have made the route for students treacherous.

Residents have also been facing increasing attacks and harassament by Israeli settlers, making parents afraid of sending their children out on the streets.

“I wish I could go back to school like before. I miss school a lot. I want to go back to my classmates. These online classes are not clear and we don’t understand well compared to face-to-face classes,” said Haneen, who is a grade three pupil at Qurtuba school, one of the few schools providing online education in the city of Hebron.

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