The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday that the Israeli army bombed 69% of schools housing displaced people inside the Gaza Strip, causing them direct damage.
UNRWA added, in a statement on the “X” platform, that this blatant disregard for humanitarian law must stop, and the ceasefire in Gaza must be stopped immediately.
On Friday, UNRWA said that more than 76% of schools in Gaza need major reconstruction or rehabilitation in order to be able to operate again, according to the Global Education Group.
The Education Group is a joint coordination mechanism between organizations working in the field of humanitarian response in the education sector in cases of internal displacement.
The group was established in 2007 by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, and is led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Child Protection Network (local) at the global level.
In a related context, UNRWA said that the Israeli war in Gaza caused 39,000 students to be deprived of high school exams, and more than half a million children from education over a period of 8 months.
As of June 17, the Israeli war has completely destroyed 110 schools and universities, and 321 schools and universities partially, while claiming the lives of more than 10,000 male and female students, according to the government media office in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the Gaza Strip were forced to take shelter in schools in light of the ferocity of the Israeli bombing, believing that education centers would be safe from danger. However, the Israeli army targeted those schools, ignoring international warnings about this.
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza with major American support, leaving more than 123,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, in addition to thousands of missing people.
Israel continues its war despite two UN Security Council resolutions to stop it immediately, and orders from the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of the city of Rafah, take measures to prevent acts of genocide, and improve the miserable humanitarian situation in Gaza.