The relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7 have cast a long shadow over the region, claiming the lives of more than 8,000 students and 497 Palestinian teachers. According to Arab media, the devastation has resulted in at least 8,572 students losing their lives in Gaza, with another 100 students perishing in the occupied West Bank.
The toll on educators is equally heartbreaking, with 497 teachers and staff members killed and over 3,000 injured. The destruction doesn’t end there; over 350 government-run educational institutions and 65 schools operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) have been reduced to rubble by Israeli forces.
This crisis has left more than 600,000 students out of school, grappling with profound psychological trauma. The horrors extend beyond the classroom. Recently released detainees from Israeli custody, including Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, have shared harrowing accounts of physical and mental abuse. Dr. Salmiya revealed that Palestinian detainees endure daily mistreatment, and many meet a grim fate during interrogation.