Palestinian schoolchildren have scuffled with Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron before soldiers fired teargas to disperse the crowd, witnesses say.

The children, upset that Israeli occupation soldiers searched bags and made them lift their shirts before passing through the checkpoint on their way to school, refused to cooperate.

The group of about 300 elementary school children swarmed around the checkpoint on Tuesday, shouting: "We want freedom to study." The youngsters kicked the plastic barrier separating them from Israeli soldiers, witnesses, including an AP reporter, said.

They said troops raised their rifles to ward off the throng of students. No shots were fired and no one was injured.

Soldiers scuffled with a few female pupils who confronted them, but the group scattered when soldiers fired teargas into the crowd and arrested two of them, the witnesses said.

Protest
The rest of the students went home as part of a strike in protest against the security checks.

The hi-tech checkpoint, which has metal detectors and an X-ray scanner, is in an area where resistance activity has been high, the army said.

Soldiers used teargas to disperse the crowd because the demonstrators were pushing and shoving the soldiers and refused to undergo a security check, the army said.

"The problem is not with the students," said Palestinian Education Minister Mohammed Qawasmeh.

"The problem is the army and the checkpoints. Pupils who are six and seven years old should not have to be subjected to body searches."

Qawasmeh said students regularly arrive late for classes and are forced to stand outside in bad weather while waiting for about 800 students to clear the checkpoint's gates every morning.

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