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Gaza Schools Cautiously Reopen as UNRWA Converts Shelters Into Classrooms

A US-brokered ceasefire enabled a partial restart that relies on damaged buildings with online lessons sustaining most students.

Overview

  • UNRWA has restarted in-person lessons for about 62,000 pupils in temporary safe learning spaces and is expanding to 67 sheltering schools while continuing online education for roughly 300,000.
  • Displaced families are sharing schoolrooms and vacating them several times a week so classes can proceed, reflecting the dual use of facilities as shelters and classrooms.
  • Satellite-based assessments cited by UN agencies report that about 97 percent of Gaza’s schools were damaged with 76.6 percent sustaining direct hits, and dozens of institutions were destroyed.
  • UNICEF estimates more than 64,000 children have been killed or injured since October 2023, with psychologists warning that over 80 percent show symptoms of severe trauma.
  • Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of strikes on schools housing displaced people that killed civilians and characterized many attacks as unlawful, complicating recovery and accountability debates.