How the war in Gaza is depriving children of their right to an education

Special How the war in Gaza is depriving children of their right to an education
UN experts expressed concern about what they view as the systematic destruction of Gaza’s education system, which likely constitutes a grave violation of the rights of children prohibited under international humanitarian law. (AFP)
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Updated 03 September 2024
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How the war in Gaza is depriving children of their right to an education

How the war in Gaza is depriving children of their right to an education
  • Children in Gaza face the grim prospect of another year without schooling — unless a ceasefire is agreed soon
  • Almost 88 percent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed under Israel’s relentless bombardment

LONDON: As schoolchildren around the globe prepare their backpacks for the new academic year, more than half a million pupils in Palestine’s embattled Gaza Strip face a second year in a row without an education.

Over the past year, some 625,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of schooling, according to the UN children’s fund, UNICEF. With little prospect of a permanent ceasefire, they are unlikely to return to schools this month.




August alone saw attacks on eight schools in Gaza City, killing more than 179 Palestinians and causing significant damage. (AFP)

Amal, whose name has been changed at her request, has been teaching her two children, aged 7 and 10, in their temporary shelter in Rafah. However, she says repeated exposure to traumatic events and the lack of stability have disrupted their learning.

“How can a child remember lines of poetry after a night of bombardment, screams and trembling?” Amal told Arab News. “Even our adult brains are faltering amid this chaos. How can a child learn and grow with an empty stomach and when their friends are likely to die any minute?”

The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, which saw more than 1,100 killed and 250 taken hostage, triggered the Israeli offensive in Gaza, which has killed at least 40,700 people, 16,500 of them children, according to local health authorities.

Thousands more Gazan children remain missing, presumed buried under the rubble, while more than 12,000 have been injured — at least 1,000 of them having undergone leg amputations.

Those who have survived have been left without a safe place to learn or the means to return to education. The Global Education Cluster, co-led by UNICEF and Save the Children, estimates that as of March 30, some 87.7 percent of school facilities in Gaza had been destroyed.




Over the past year, some 625,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of schooling. (AFP)

According to the cluster, which made a damage assessment using satellite imagery, direct Israeli strikes have severely damaged 212 of the enclave’s schools and caused moderate to minor damage to a further 282.

Some 70 percent of the schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency have also suffered damage. However, since October, around 95 percent of these schools have been transformed into shelters for displaced households.

Attacks on schools are deemed a grave violation of children’s rights and are prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Israeli authorities have insisted they do not target civilians or civilian infrastructure, instead accusing Hamas of using schools and hospitals as command centers from which to launch attacks and using their occupants as human shields.

In August, the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services concluded that nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, while the records of 10 others are still being reviewed.

UNRWA employs 32,000 people across its area of operations — 13,000 of them in Gaza. The UN launched the investigation after Israel said in January that 12 UNRWA staff had taken part in the Oct. 7 attack. Seven more cases were brought to the UN’s attention in March and April.




Israeli strikes have severely damaged 212 of the enclave’s schools and caused moderate to minor damage to a further 282. (AFP)

The allegations against UNRWA led several major donor nations, including the US, to suspend funding for the agency, undermining relief efforts not only in Gaza and the West Bank but throughout the Middle East region where Palestinians hold refugee status.

In April, UN experts led by Farida Shaheed, the special rapporteur on the right to education, expressed concern about what appeared to be the systematic destruction of Gaza’s education system — already weakened by Israel’s 17-year embargo on the enclave.

“With more than 80 percent of schools in Gaza damaged or destroyed, it may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as ‘scholasticide,’” the experts said in a joint statement.

Scholasticide involves the organized destruction of the educational infrastructure and the killing of students, teachers and staff.

Gaza’s Ministry of Education said in August that at least 500 teachers had been killed in the hostilities, while more than 3,000 were injured.




Thousands more Gazan children remain missing, presumed buried under the rubble, while more than 12,000 have been injured. (AFP)

The UN experts said they believe the Israeli attacks on Gaza’s schools “are not isolated incidents” but part of “a systematic pattern of violence aimed at dismantling the very foundation of Palestinian society.”

August alone saw attacks on eight schools in Gaza City, killing more than 179 Palestinians and causing significant damage.

The deadliest of these strikes was on Al-Tabin School in Gaza City on Aug. 10. CNN confirmed that a US-manufactured GBU-39 small-diameter bomb was used in the attack, killing more than 100 of the roughly 2,400 Palestinian refugees sheltering there.

In a post condemning the attack on the social media platform X, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said: “Schools, UN facilities and civilian infrastructure are not a target.”

Calling for an immediate ceasefire, he wrote on the day of the attack: “Parties to the conflict must not use schools and other civilian facilities for military or fighting purposes.




At least 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million-strong population have been displaced. (AFP)

“It’s time for these horrors unfolding under our watch to end. We cannot let the unbearable become a new norm. The more recurrent, the more we lose our collective humanity.”

To provide children with a shred of normality and respite from the daily horrors of the conflict, UNICEF and its partners in the Palestinian enclave have set up 48 learning tents in Khan Younis, the Middle Area, Gaza City and North Gaza.

The temporary spaces provided informal learning activities and mental health support to some 15,000 school-age children in July.

INNUMBERS

• 625,000 Children in Gaza deprived of an education since October 2023.

• 87.7% Schools damaged or destroyed by Israeli strikes across Gaza.

(Source: UNICEF, Global Education Cluster)

But despite the efforts of humanitarian organizations to offer temporary learning opportunities for Gaza’s children, the absence of a permanent ceasefire, repeated displacement, decimated infrastructure, and extremely limited access to basic necessities such as food, clean drinking water, and healthcare have hindered their ability to develop normally.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, underlined in June that more than 8,000 children in the embattled enclave have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition.

The WHO chief warned that “a significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”




The international community has accused the Israeli government of using the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war. (AFP)

More than 34 people, at least 28 of them children, have already died from severe malnutrition, Gaza’s health authority reported in late June.

The international community has accused the Israeli government of using the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.

In May, the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of deliberately starving civilians.

The Israeli government has repeatedly denied the accusations. However, high-ranking officials, including Gallant himself, publicly stated their intention to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel at the outset of the conflict last year.

At least 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million-strong population have been displaced — many of them multiple times — as the Israeli military has evacuated Palestinian families from one “safe zone” to another. In the process, children have been deprived of the stability required for learning.




Gaza’s Ministry of Education said in August that at least 500 teachers had been killed in the hostilities, while more than 3,000 were injured. (AFP)

Save the Children warned in April that “when children are out of school for a long period, their learning does not just stop but is also likely to regress. We know from previous crises that the longer children are out of school, the greater the risk that they do not return.

“This risks their prospects in the longer-term, including their income, and their mental and physical health, while they may also be at greater risk from violence and abuse.”

 


Israel signs $5.2 bln deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing

Israel signs $5.2 bln deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing
Updated 58 min 39 sec ago
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Israel signs $5.2 bln deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing

Israel signs $5.2 bln deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing
  • The $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid
  • Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031

JERUSALEM: The Israeli defense ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co.
It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, it said.
The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.
“These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach — capabilities that proved crucial during the current war,” the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.
Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.
“While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we’re simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities,” he said.
For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company’s relationship dates back to Israel’s establishment and “will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”


Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation

Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation
Updated 07 November 2024
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Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation

Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with US president-elect Donald Trump to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the presidency said on Thursday.
Erdogan “congratulated Trump on his election victory” and “expressed his desire to develop cooperation between Turkiye and the United States in the period ahead,” it said in a statement.
Erdogan was twice hosted at the White House by Trump during his first term, but has never been received there by current President Joe Biden.


Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers

Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers
Updated 07 November 2024
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Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers

Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers
  • They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years

JERUSALEM: Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years. The Israel-Hamas war is still raging in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and most of the population has been internally displaced, often multiple times.
It was unclear if it would apply in the occupied West Bank, where Israel already has a longstanding policy of demolishing the family homes of attackers. Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years.
Dr. Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, said that if the law comes before the Supreme Court, it is likely to be struck down based on previous Israeli cases regarding deportation.
“The bottom line is this is completely non-constitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” said Shamir-Borer.
Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. It withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 but has reoccupied parts of the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community. Palestinians there have permanent residency and are allowed to apply for citizenship, but most choose not to, and those who do face a series of obstacles.
Palestinians living in Israel make up around 20 percent of the country’s population. They have citizenship and the right to vote but face widespread discrimination. Many also have close family ties to those in the territories and most sympathize with the Palestinian cause.


Israeli strike hits area near Beirut airport

Israeli strike hits area near Beirut airport
Updated 38 min 33 sec ago
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Israeli strike hits area near Beirut airport

Israeli strike hits area near Beirut airport
  • The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders ahead of the strikes
  • Hezbollah had pledged the result of the US election would have no bearing on the war

JERUSALEM: Lebanon's transport minister said Thursday the country's only international airport was operating normally, after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one on an area near the hub.
Minister Ali Hamie told AFP that planes were taking off and landing without any issue.
A heater factory next to the airport's perimeter wall had been badly damaged in a strike, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
Israel has been at war with Lebanon's Hezbollah since late September when it broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
The strike near the airport came after Hezbollah announced on Wednesday that it had targeted a military base close Ben Gurion Airport, Israel's main international transport hub.
The overnight strike in Beirut caused "minor damage" to some buildings but "not inside the terminal building", an airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
He said the strike had affected a maintenance building belonging to a subsidiary of Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier and practically the only airline still operating flights there.
Abu Elie, a taxi driver, was at the airport when the strikes hit.
"The entire car park shook. People were carrying their luggage on their shoulders and running," he said.
"When I made it to the street there was so much smoke I had to turn the headlights on."
The Israeli army had earlier issued an evacuation order for four neighbourhoods in southern Beirut, including a site near the airport.
"Once they sent warnings, we got in the car and fled," Beirut resident Malak Okail told AFP.
"It has become repetitive," said Ramzi Zaitar, another resident.
"We've had to flee our homes several times. Sometimes we sleep in the car," he added.
"Death has become a matter of luck. We can either die or survive."
Since September 23, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.


Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care

Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care
Updated 07 November 2024
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Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care

Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care
  • The WHO said the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries”

JERUSALEM: Israel and the World Health Organization said more than 200 Gazans, both patients and their carers, were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates or Romania Wednesday for medical treatment.
In total, the group numbered some 230 people, according to the WHO and COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.
“This is the largest number of patients and caregivers who have left through the Kerem Shalom crossing in recent months,” COGAT said in a statement.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with the UAE, the European Union and the WHO, it added.
The WHO said the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries.”
The patients were transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, and then to Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, had said Tuesday that those on the evacuation list were among up to 14,000 people currently waiting in Gaza to be evacuated for medical reasons.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
The ministry also lists 102,347 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Peeperkorn said Tuesday that fewer than 5,000 people had been granted medical evacuations out of the territory since the war began.