The new school year in the Palestinian territories began on Monday, but the educational landscape in Gaza remains severely disrupted due to ongoing conflict. Schools across Gaza have been closed following a protracted 11-month period of war, with no immediate prospects for a ceasefire.
Impact of the Conflict on Education
According to the Palestinian Education Ministry, all schools in Gaza have been shut, with 90% of them either destroyed or damaged due to the ongoing assault by Israel. This escalation followed a Hamas attack on Israeli towns in October of the previous year. The U.N. Palestinian aid agency, UNRWA, which manages around half of Gaza’s schools, has repurposed many of these facilities into emergency shelters for displaced families.
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UNRWA Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, emphasized the dire consequences of the prolonged closure: “The longer the children stay out of school, the more difficult it is for them to catch up on their lost learning and the more prone they are to becoming a lost generation, falling prey to exploitation including child marriage, child labour, and recruitment into armed groups.”
In addition to the 625,000 Gazans already registered for school, another 58,000 six-year-olds were expected to start first grade this year, according to the education ministry.
Emergency Educational Initiatives
In response to the educational crisis, UNRWA launched a back-to-learning program in 45 of its shelters last month. This initiative includes various activities such as games, drama, arts, music, and sports to support the mental health of children affected by the conflict.
Ongoing Evacuations and Health Concerns
In the latest development, Israel has issued new evacuation orders for residents in the northern Gaza Strip due to recent rocket fire into southern Israel. An Israeli military spokesperson warned in Arabic on X, “To all those in the specified area. Terrorist organisations are once again firing rockets at the State of Israel and carrying out terrorist acts from this area. The specified area has been warned many times in the past. The specified area is considered a dangerous combat zone.”
The United Nations has also urged Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to visit medical facilities for polio vaccinations. This vaccination campaign, initiated following the first polio case in Gaza in about 25 years
, aims to reach 640,000 children. Limited pauses in the fighting have been arranged to facilitate this crucial health initiative.
Casualties and Military Actions
Health officials reported that Israeli airstrikes on Monday resulted in the deaths of seven individuals in central Gaza and one person in Khan Younis further south. The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been actively engaged in combat against Israeli forces, utilizing anti-tank rockets and mortar fire. In response, the Israeli military has continued its operations, dismantling military infrastructure and claiming the deaths of numerous militants, including senior commanders from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The conflict, which began on October 7 with a significant Hamas attack on Israel resulting in 1,200 Israeli casualties and approximately 250 hostages, has led to substantial losses on both sides. According to Gaza’s health ministry, over 40,900 Palestinians have been killed since the onset of the conflict.
Stalemate and Search for a Ceasefire
Efforts to negotiate a ceasefire have so far been unsuccessful, with both sides attributing the lack of progress to the actions and demands of the other. The situation remains critical as the humanitarian crisis deepens, and the international community continues to call for a resolution to the ongoing violence.
(Includes inputs from online sources)
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