A woman reacts following Israeli strikes on a UNRWA-run school currently housing displaced families in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 16, 2024. 
  (Photo: AFP)

Ramallah, December 18 (RHC)-- Nearly 13,000 students have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since the regime launched its brutal campaign of death and destruction on the Palestinian territory more than 14 months ago.

The Palestinian Ministry of Education said more than 12,799 students have been killed and at least 20,942 others wounded in Gaza and the West Bank.  The overwhelming majority of casualties were in Gaza, the ministry said.

At least 598 teachers and school administrators were also killed, and 3,801 others were wounded.  Israeli forces have also abducted at least 538 students and 158 teachers and administrators in the West Bank.

The Israeli forces continue their genocide in Gaza, killing over 110 Palestinians in just the past few days. The Israeli military forces have bombed more than 420 government schools, universities and their buildings, along with 65 affiliated with the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.  The buildings are damaged or completely destroyed.

According to the ministry, more than 788,000 students in Gaza have been unable to attend school or university since October 7, 2023.

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says all of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime.

“Gaza’s children have endured unimaginable horrors – they deserve an immediate ceasefire and a chance for a peaceful future,” it said.