As Israeli students return to classrooms, Gaza's schools lie in ruins

On Monday, 2.58 million Israeli students returned to their classrooms to begin the new school year. Of these, 180,600 are starting first grade, while 149,000 are entering twelfth grade, their final year of school. 

In Gaza, meanwhile, the education system has been largely levelled by two years of Israeli bombardment.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that over 660,000 children in Gaza are being deprived of schooling for a third consecutive year amid Israel’s genocide in the territory.

Analysis of satellite images by the United Nations Satellite Centre in April revealed that 97 percent of schools “sustained some level of damage to their buildings”, with 432 school buildings, 76.6 percent of the total school buildings in Gaza, suffering a “direct hit” since 7 October 2023.

According to the Palestinian education ministry the schooling of around 700,000 has been suspended, with over 70,000 barred from taking secondary school exams in the past two years.

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