Children in Gaza are set to miss the start of a new school year, which begins in a few days, for the third consecutive time, the United Nations (UN) has said, warning that the war is depriving an entire Palestinian generation of their right to education.
“Education is a fundamental right, and no child should be denied this right. Access to education must be protected. It must be restored,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.
He said the crisis “threatens the future of an entire generation of children in Gaza,” while the expansion of military operations continues to increase risks from explosive ordnance.
Israel’s war on knowledge
Israel’s brutal war on Gaza has devastated the education system in the besieged enclave, with Israeli forces damaging or destroying 95 percent of educational infrastructure since the war began.
This destruction has left more than 660,000 children out of school—nearly the entire school-aged population of Gaza, according to the UN.
Many former UN-run schools are now being used as shelters for displaced people. The irony is that Israel is attacking even those.
A UN report said that Israeli forces systematically destroyed educational infrastructure in Gaza and described these actions as possible war crimes.
“We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“Israel’s targeting of the educational, cultural, and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm the present generation and generations to come, hindering their right to self-determination.”
Occupied West Bank
The crisis extends beyond Gaza, with schools in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem also under strain.
According to a UN report, ongoing Israeli military raids, restrictions at checkpoints, student harassment, demolitions, and settler violence have disrupted education for more than 806,000 Palestinian children in these areas.
Israel has killed nearly 63,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, since October 7, 2023.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
