“`html
GAZA CITY, 2025-09-03 15:00:00 – Nearly 660,000 children in Gaza remain out of school, a stark reality for a generation grappling with the aftermath of a prolonged conflict. Schools, once sanctuaries of learning, have been transformed into shelters for the displaced, with many of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents forced to move multiple times during the war. Children, instead of carrying school bags, now carry bags of clothes, their dreams of education replaced by the daily struggle for survival.
Diana, displaced with her family from the Shujaiya neighborhood, spoke of this new reality. “We carry a bag of clothes rather of a school bag,” she said. “We no longer play or learn. There is no education now. We live inside the school, where we are displaced, eating and sleeping.” The war, sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks and Israel’s subsequent offensive, has disrupted life for nearly two years, pushing education to the absolute periphery.
A child from Gaza, who lost her father during the war, said “two years of our lives are gone for nothing.”
Searching for food Rather of School supplies
Misk, who lost her father during the conflict, described the compounded tragedy of lost learning.”Two years of our lives were wasted,” she shared, tears welling up. “If it weren’t for the war, I would now be preparing for school, buying pens and school supplies. Now, we search for water and food, running after water and community kitchens.” Her voice, filled with the pain of loss, echoed the plight of many children: “We are children.we want to live like other children. My father was killed in the war. What is my fault that I became an orphan at an early age?”
Many displaced people in Gaza have found shelter in UNRWA schools.
Deprivation of Education’s Impact
Nine-year-old Jana expressed a simple, profound wish: “We live in a school, and we want to go back to studying there.” The war displaced her family, leaving them without basic necessities. Maya remembered life before the war as “much nicer,” when children “went to school, learned and received their diplomas.” Malak, simultaneously occurring, scavenges for materials to start fires for cooking, her focus shifted from homework to survival.”we want the war to end,” she pleaded. “We want to go home. We want to go back to school. We want to do something useful.It’s been so long since we ate healthy food.We want to go home and live a normal life. this is not life.”
