Lost Education, Lost Childhood: Gaza's Children Pay the Price of War

CNN — Multicolored posters, white streamers and Palestinian flags made of paper decorate a tent in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. School rucksacks stuffed with clothes, small pillows and floral blankets are strewn on the floor. More than a dozen girls and boys sit cross-legged inside a makeshift classroom along the coastal region. Their eyes dart across a large whiteboard as they recite after their teacher, Oula Al Ghoul, who gently encourages her students. The sound of Israeli drones buzzes overhead – a stark reminder of the fighting that has engulfed the strip for more than 11 months. “We have war, no schools… Yet the children are eager to learn,” Al Ghoul told CNN. She decided to set up a rudimentary classroom in the same tent in which she’s living, just to give some first-graders a chance to study. “Even the parents come and ask about their children’s progress in writing, asking if they are improving.” But her initiative is the exception. As children across the Middle East begin the new semester, those in Gaza will be unable to return to school. The Israeli offensive launched after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has spawned a humanitarian crisis and halted educational services in the besieged enclave. Oula Al Ghoul, a Palestinian teacher, has established a makeshift classroom for displaced children in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. CNN At least 45,000 first-graders in the Gaza Strip will be unable to start the school year, according to the United Nations’ children’s agency, UNICEF. “The first graders join 625,000 children who have already been denied an entire school year,” and face the prospect of a second missed year of education, the agency said. Israel’s bombing campaign has destroyed 123 schools and universities in Gaza, according to the Government Media Office (GMO) there. At least 11,500 students and 750 teachers have been killed, the GMO reported on Monday. Earlier this year, the UN accused Israeli forces of the “systematic obliteration” of the academic system in Gaza, citing independent experts, and called for the protection of schoolchildren.

The IDF has said strikes on schools target Hamas militants and has previously insisted it take steps to minimize harm to civilians. Hamas has denied embedding fighters in civilian infrastructure. Many schools have turned into makeshift shelters, as hundreds of thousands of people seek refuge from Israel’s bombardment. Several Palestinian children told CNN that days spent learning have been replaced by a struggle for survival. Some spend hours queueing for water or food aid, as Israel’s siege has depleted supplies. Aid workers say that displacement camps are crammed with children who have no safe space to play. . “I aspired to complete my studies and help my father feed my family,” said Raghad Ezzat Hamouda, a 19-year-old English literature student, displaced in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. She told CNN on Friday that she had registered for her university course last fall – just before the hostilities erupted. “The war destroyed all my ambitions and there was nothing left.” Israel launched its military offensive on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, attacked southern Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others abducted, according to Israeli authorities. Israeli attacks in Gaza have since killed at least 41,182 Palestinians and wounded more than 95,000 others, the Ministry of Health there reported on Thursday. CNN cannot independently confirm the figures. ‘No schools, no books, nothing’ Dozens of Palestinian boys in dusty shoes carry empty jerry cans at a school which has become an improvised displacement shelter in Deir al-Balah. The sun beats down on their faces as they queue to collect water aid for their families. CNN footage from the school, run by the UN’s main agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief, UNRWA, shows children clamoring for scant resources. Flies swarm between lines of displaced people, who are scattered betwee

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