‘Entire generation at risk’ from destruction of Gaza’s school system
UNICEF says Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has wiped out years of educational progress in the Palestinian enclave, where nearly all schools have been damaged or destroyed by the two-year assault.
“Almost two and a half years of attacks on Gaza’s schooling have left an entire generation at risk,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said.
About 60 percent of school-aged children have no access to in-person learning, UNICEF said, while more than 90 percent of educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed.
Elder said UNICEF is expanding its “Back to Learning” programme to reach 336,000 children in 2026 through temporary learning centres. The classrooms will also link children to health, nutrition and sanitation services.
Palestinian children at an outdoor classroom opened by UNRWA in central Deir el-Balah
UNICEF calls for urgent opening of Rafah crossing, with families ‘desperate’
James Elder, the UNICEF spokesperson, stressed the urgent need to reopen the Rafah border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip, calling it a “lifeline” for medical evacuations, family reunification, and essential services.
Palestinian families are “desperate” for the crossing to reopen, Elder said, adding that its prolonged closure by Israel is adding to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The Rafah crossing, Gaza’s key border crossing with Egypt, has been mostly closed since May 2024, when the Palestinian side came under the control of invading Israeli forces.
The crossing was supposed to have reopened during the first stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began in October. But the Israeli government tied its opening to the recovery of the body of Ran Gvili, the last remaining Israeli captive in Gaza, whose remains were recovered in an Israeli operation on Monday.
Israel continues to keep the Rafah crossing closed.
Humanitarian situation in Gaza ‘dire’ as children suffer most: UN
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains “dire” with children among those worst affected by shortages of shelter, food, water and medicine, the United Nations warns.
Briefing reporters in New York City on Tuesday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said hundreds of thousands of families across the Strip continue to face urgent needs, despite a modest expansion in aid deliveries. Children remained particularly affected.
UN health partners have scaled up basic services, including a catch-up vaccination campaign launched last week. More than 6,000 children under the age of three have now received routine immunisations.
Daily bread rations are now reaching at least 43 percent of Gaza’s population. Monthly wheat flour distributions reached 1.2 million people this month.
However, more than one million people still require urgent shelter support during the winter cold and rain, Dujarric said, underscoring the need for longer-term solutions such as home-repair tool kits, communal heating spaces and equipment to remove the vast piles of debris.
