788,000 Gazan students lose schooling amid Israeli attacks

Israel’s war on Gaza has severely damaged the region’s education sector, leaving 788,000 Gazan students without education since October 7th 2023, Middle East Eye reported on June 24th.

The Ministry of Education confirmed that 352 public schools have suffered damage, and 111 of them have been entirely destroyed. Bombing has hit 91 public schools and 89 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The conflict has also damaged 20 higher education institutions, with 60 university buildings completely demolished. In the West Bank, Israeli forces have stormed 152 schools and eight universities.

Meanwhile, six UNRWA schools in Jerusalem remain closed, although high school exams have started in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

According to a report by Middle East Eye via Wafa news agency on June 17th, Israel’s assault on Gaza and the West Bank has killed at least 16,607 students and wounded 26,271 since October 7th 2023.

Israeli forces killed 16,470 Gazan students and injured 25,374. In the West Bank, they killed 137 students, injured 897, and arrested 754. The Palestinian Ministry of Education also reported 914 teachers and admin staff were killed, while 4,363 were wounded. Additionally, in the West Bank, 196 teachers and school workers have been arrested.

Additionally, Israel’s attacks on Gaza schools and cultural areas constitute war crimes and the crime of extermination, as Middle East Eye reported via Reuters on June 11th.

The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry found that Israeli strikes damaged over 90% of Gaza’s educational institutions and more than half of its religious and cultural sites.

These attacks have denied 658,000 children in Gaza access to education for two years. The commission documented Israel’s use of schools as military bases and reported destruction of heritage sites.

It urged Israel to stop targeting civilian infrastructure and to comply with international law ahead of the report’s formal presentation to the UN Human Rights Council.

Middle East Eye, Reuters, Wafa news agency