UNRWA reports seventy percent of UN-run schools destroyed or damaged across Gaza 

Geneva, September 3 (RHC)-- The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says 70 percent of UNRWA schools have been "destroyed or damaged" since the Israeli regime launched its savage war across the besieged strip.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA wrote in a post on X on Monday that those schools that still stand are being used as shelters for displaced families.
“They cannot be used for learning. With no ceasefire, children are likely to fall prey to exploitation, including child labor and recruitment into armed groups,” Lazzarini noted.

"The longer children stay out of school, the higher the risk of a lost generation," Philippe Lazzarini says.  He also stated that children across the region are starting their new school term at UNRWA facilities, but not in Gaza.

Over 600,000 children in the Gaza Strip are deeply traumatized and living in rubble amid a devastating Israeli offensive, the UN agency chief said.

Elsewhere in the post, he noted that a ceasefire is “a win for all,” including “respite” for civilians, the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, and the increased flow of basic supplies, including learning materials.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says over 625,000 children in Gaza have not attended school for more than eight months as the Israeli regime continues its brutal war on the densely populated territory.

In the most recent aggression, the Israeli regime killed about a dozen Palestinians in an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City as school carnage in the war-wracked territory continues apace.   The attack struck the Safad school in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City on Sunday.

More than 100 citizens were killed and dozens more injured on August 10 after the Israeli occupation forces bombed the al-Tabi’in school in the al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, sheltering over 6,000 displaced people.

Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the regime has systematically attacked civic infrastructure, including schools housing displaced people, hospitals, and places of worship, often claiming without evidence they are linked to Hamas resistance movement, in order to evade international criticism.

No end in sight to the genocide in Gaza as more Palestinians fall victim to Israel’s attacks across the besieged territory. Israel’s relentless air and artillery strikes continue to pound Gaza eleven months into the regime’s genocide, killing more women and children. 

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says at least half of its headquarters in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed amid the Israeli regime’s ongoing genocidal war against the coastal sliver.