Gaza children resume schooling across 359 makeshift centres after three years

Return to classrooms amidst ruined infrastructure

Gaza children resumed formal schooling on 19 September 2026 across 359 provisional learning spaces following nearly three years of suspension caused by the war. Educational infrastructure across the Gaza Strip suffered widespread destruction since the military offensive began in October 2023. According to Tawfiq al-Hourani, head of the education programme at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), more than 95% of the agency's 182 fully equipped schools were destroyed during the fighting. Broader United Nations assessments indicate that nearly 98% of all educational facilities across the enclave sustained destruction. Despite the extensive damage, UNRWA established 86 operational learning centres to restore educational access for displaced families.

Conditions inside improvised learning spaces

Students returning to classes faced an acute lack of basic educational supplies, with most facilities missing desks, textbooks, and paper. Children gathered on floor mats and rugs placed directly on rubble-strewn ground before damaged blackboards, as student Moayed Abu Mustafa noted that entire classes sat on simple floor coverings. Teachers returned to classroom duties after spending two years conducting remote instruction and holding sporadic in-person sessions following the October 2025 truce. UNRWA also distributed self-learning packets, instructional videos, and guides to support older pupils who cannot reach physical classrooms. Raja al-Nabahin, a primary school teacher working since 2011, stressed that educators urgently require supplies to compensate for years of lost instruction.

We are very happy to start the school year. Three years of interruption are enough. We want to continue despite the limited resources.

Scale of educational disruption across Palestinian territories

According to UNICEF, approximately 700,000 children across Gaza remained out of school throughout the conflict, with roughly 500,000 now able to resume structured learning. In the occupied West Bank, 846,000 students also commenced the academic term while facing movement restrictions at around 900 Israeli military checkpoints. Regular schooling remains disrupted for over 4,000 displaced West Bank students, particularly in the refugee camps of Jenin and Tulkarm. Mothers in Gaza described intense enthusiasm among their children, with Um Jibril Hamida recounting that her son waited from dawn to attend classes. Hanin al Saafin, whose son Isam attends the preparatory school in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, voiced hope for a peaceful year.

We are very excited about returning to school. The children suffered a lot in the war and we pray that this will be a good year for them.

Persistent military strikes and civilian hazards

The return to classes took place while military strikes continued in several areas of the Gaza Strip. Medical sources reported that Israeli strikes killed at least three people on the first day of the school year. The fatalities included a 10-year-old girl killed by military gunfire in Nuseirat, as well as the son of Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Gaza Ministry of Health who established UN-backed casualty records, killed in a drone attack in Jabalia. Families expressed persistent anxiety that pupils could be struck by shrapnel on their routes to school. Um Ali Hmeideh observed that younger children possess no recollection of morning assemblies or normal routines, having experienced only bombardment and displacement throughout their early childhood.