Gaza City, September 15 (RHC)-- Children who have started the new school year in the besieged Gaza Strip are grappling with the trauma of the recent Israeli military offensive on the blockaded area.

Schools have opened their doors in the blockaded territory after a three-week delay due to the recent Israeli relentless and merciless aggression on Gaza. The children in the blockaded area who have survived the onslaught are in shock of the loss of their classmates and the extent of destruction in the area.

"I felt so bad when I saw my school destroyed. We used to study and play here. Nadia, my school mate, died [in the Israeli attacks] and we can't play anymore," a Palestinian school child told reporters in Gaza City. Another Palestinian child said: "This is our first day at school and it's hard to describe the destruction."

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says that thousands of school children in the Gaza Strip are unable to start the new academic year in the besieged territory as a result of the Israeli military offensive.

The relief and human development agency's spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said that around 9,600 students cannot attend school because Palestinian families, whose homes were destroyed during Israel's latest war on the Gaza Strip, have come to seek refuge at three Gaza schools and refuse to leave those schools.