Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children were unable to begin a new school year on Monday after the Israeli army raided schools in the occupied West Bank and destroyed them in Gaza.
The UN relief agency UNRWA said 660,000 children in Gaza were out of school for a third year, putting them at risk of becoming a “lost generation”. It said remaining schools were being used to shelter displaced families.
“Gaza is in ruins. So is its education system,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said. “Today, instead of going back to school, like most children around the world, around 660,000 girls and boys in Gaza will be sifting through the rubble – desperate, hungry, traumatised and mostly bereaved.
“The longer they stay out of school with their trauma, the higher the risk they become a lost generation, sowing the seeds for more hatred and violence.”
Last month, UNRWA reported two of its schools in the Gaza city area taking direct hits from Israeli air strikes, as Israel sets about trying to capture the city in a new offensive.
“The last time I went to school, I was in third grade. I had a home, I had a school, and I had friends,” the agency quoted one UNRWA pupil, Leen, as saying. “Now, I am in fifth grade, I lost my home, I lost my school, and I lost everything, but I will not lose knowledge, because I really love to study.”
In the West Bank, about 46,000 Palestinian refugee children began a new year in UNRWA schools, the news agency Wafa reported. But many are believed to have dropped out after Israel raided six schools in East Jerusalem in May.
Another 4,000 children are thought to be out of school after Israeli movements in the West Bank known as Operation Iron Wall, which began in January. Israel has also advanced plans to move children in UNRWA schools to an Israeli-approved curriculum.
Israel accuses UNRWA of bias and says Hamas has used its schools for military activities. Mr Lazzarini has said his organisation is the only one capable of running schools in the absence of a functioning Palestinian state.
A conference organised by France and Saudi Arabia this month will aim to give a push to statehood, although the US last week threw a spanner into preparations by denying visas to Palestinian officials. The Saudi Press Agency said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks on Monday with Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh in Riyadh.
