On Thursday, April 10, 2014, the Israeli military escort failed to accompany the Palestinian children from the South Hebron Hills villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed as they returned home from school.The children reached the meeting point with the military escort at 12:15 pm, and the escort was supposed to arrive at 12:30 pm, as every Thursday, the Alternative Information Center (AIC) reports.
The meeting place is a dangerous area, situated close to the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on.
International volunteers made numerous phone calls to the District Coordination Liaison (DCL) office and directly to the Israeli army office, but the escort failed to arrive.
So, at 1:20 pm the children decided to walk home via a longer path which crosses Palestinian-owned lands very close to the south-western side of Havat Ma’on. Because of the danger, international volunteers accompanied the children.
At 1:50 pm two young Israeli settlers attacked the children and volunteers, throwing rocks with slingshots. The attack lasted about three minutes and forced the children to run toward the hills in order to reach the Palestinian village of Tuba.
The misconduct of the Israeli military escort often endangers the Palestinian children, whom the soldiers are obligated to protect. The schoolchildren were also attacked by Israeli settlers on April 9, while the escort was present.
