Two members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were detained by Israeli soldiers on Thursday while securing movement of elementary school students in the Israeli occupied section of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local rights activist.

Human Rights Defender Imad Abu Shamsieh said Israeli forces detained the two international activists, one American and the other Italian, while they were near Qurtoba Elementary School, located near the illegal Beit Hadasa Jewish settlement, to oversee the Palestinian students as they leave their school to make sure no harm will be done to them from the Israeli army or settlers.

The two ISM members were doing the work that was done in the past by members of the international civilian monitoring force, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), which had to leave Hebron after 22 years of operation following Israel’s refusal last month to renew its mandate.