In pictures: Back to school in Gaza

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  The empty chair of student Najeah Al Helo, 14, who was killed during the Israeli offensive, is seen inside a classroom on the first day of the new school year in Gaza City on September 14, 2014. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

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  Students walk past houses that were destroyed by the Israeli offensive, as they make their way to school on the first day of the new school year. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

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  Palestinian students sit inside their school, walls bearing the marks of Israel’s 50-day war with Gaza. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

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  Gaza education ministry said 26 Gaza schools were destroyed during the war and another 232 sustained damage. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

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  The devastating 50-day war with Israel killed more than 2,100 Palestinians. Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Nearly half a million Gaza children returned to school on Sunday, delayed by two weeks, after the devastating war with Israel that ended on August 26.

Gaza education ministry official Ziad Thabet said that unlike in previous years the first week of instruction in government schools will be given over to providing psychological counseling and recreational activities to help the children transition to learning.