The Palestinian education ministry also said in its statement that 20,702 students were injured, other than the students who were killed by Israeli forces. 

This comes out of a total of 12,820 students who were killed by Israeli forces and another 21,351 who were injured by Israeli forces in both Gaza and the West Bank since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza on 7 October 2023. 

Israeli forces have also targeted teachers, with 619 Palestinian teachers and school administrators killed and 3,831 wounded in both territories since the war started.

"The scale of destruction is unprecedented," the ministry’s statement read, noting that 171 government schools in Gaza have been severely damaged, while 77 have been completely obliterated. Another 191 schools have been bombed or vandalized, including 65 affiliated with the UNRWA.

Higher education institutions have not been spared. According to the ministry, 20 universities have suffered extensive damage, with 51 buildings destroyed and another 57 partially damaged.

Across Gaza, 788,000 students have been unable to attend school or university since the war began. The ministry warns that the prolonged disruption to education risks creating a “lost generation” plagued by psychological trauma and health crises.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, UNRWA, citing the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), delivered a stark assessment of the war’s impact on Gaza’s children. The agency reported that one child is killed every hour as a result of Israeli attacks, underscoring the catastrophic toll on the enclave’s youngest population.

No place for children!
 

“There is no place for children,” the agency said, citing figures from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which estimate that 14,500 children have been killed since the onset of the conflict. “These are not just numbers. They are lives cut short,” it added.

UNRWA reiterated that no justification exists for the targeting of children, warning that survivors face long-lasting physical and psychological trauma. “Boys and girls in Gaza spend their days searching through the rubble,” the agency added. “Time is running out for these children. They are losing their lives, their future, and most of their hopes.”

The agency pointed to the destruction of educational facilities as a significant barrier to recovery, emphasizing that children are deprived not only of physical safety but also of their right to learn.

The education ministry’s findings further illustrate the devastating impact on educational infrastructure.

Unbearable situation!
 

Children in Gaza are enduring severe hunger, cold, and trauma as conflict and deprivation continue to devastate the region, UNICEF Communication Specialist Rosalia Bollen said during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva last Friday.

"Children in Gaza are cold, sick, and traumatized," Bollen said, highlighting the dire conditions facing over a million children. "Over 96 percent of women and children in Gaza cannot meet their basic nutritional needs. Most are surviving on rationed flour, lentils, pasta, and canned food — a diet that slowly compromises their health."

Bollen highlighted the sharp decline in aid reaching the strip, with just 65 assistance trucks entering Gaza daily in November, compared to 500 truckloads before the war. "The most northern part of Gaza has been under near-total siege for 75 days now. Humanitarian assistance has been largely unable to reach children in need for more than 10 weeks," she said.

"This war should haunt every one of us. Gaza’s children cannot wait," she concluded.

In Gaza, even schools designated as safe zones have not been spared. UNRWA schools, which typically shelter displaced civilians during escalations, have become targets, resulting in heavy casualties among those seeking refuge.

"The obliteration of Gaza’s education system reflects the wider devastation being wrought upon the enclave,” a UNRWA official said. "These institutions are meant to be places of safety and learning. Instead, they have become sites of tragedy.”