The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Gaza has released a comprehensive diagnostic report detailing the catastrophic impact of the Israeli war on the education sector, documenting an unprecedented educational collapse resulting from nearly 1,000 days of continuous aggression against the besieged enclave.

The report, covering the period from 2023 to 2026, provides a comprehensive assessment of the profound damage inflicted on Gaza’s educational system, including the destruction of schools, the loss of students and educators, and the disruption of learning opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children.

According to the ministry, the report serves as a scientific and planning document aimed at documenting the effects of the ongoing Israeli genocide while providing a framework for recovery, reconstruction, and the restoration of educational services across the Gaza Strip.

The ministry stated that the report was prepared using statistical monitoring, field observations, and documented evidence collected throughout the war. It examines the extensive damage sustained by Gaza’s educational institutions and the broader consequences for Palestinian society.

The first section of the report focuses on the scale of the educational collapse caused by the Israeli assault. It documents the number of students, teachers, and educational personnel who have been martyred or wounded during the war, as well as the widespread destruction of schools, universities, and administrative facilities.

The report also highlights the severe disruption to the learning process, the accumulation of educational losses, and the deterioration of essential support services that are vital to maintaining educational continuity.

According to the ministry, the systematic targeting and destruction of educational infrastructure have deprived large numbers of Palestinian students of their fundamental right to education, creating one of the most severe educational crises in modern Palestinian history.

The second section of the report reviews the emergency measures implemented by the Ministry of Education in an effort to preserve access to learning despite ongoing bombardment, displacement, and the destruction of educational facilities.

Among the initiatives documented are the establishment of field schools and educational tents in displacement areas, designed to provide children with at least a minimum level of educational continuity under extremely difficult circumstances.

The ministry also launched special educational programs and learning packages aimed at helping students recover lost academic skills and mitigate the impact of prolonged interruptions to formal education.

Despite limited resources and challenging conditions, Palestinian educators continued to develop alternative teaching mechanisms to ensure that education remained accessible to displaced children and students affected by the war.

In its third and final section, the report presents a strategic roadmap for rebuilding Gaza’s devastated education sector through a phased recovery process based on principles of sustainability, resilience, and educational justice.

The proposed strategy seeks to move beyond emergency relief measures toward the restoration of stable and comprehensive educational services. It also aims to strengthen institutional capacities and ensure that all students can return to safe and effective learning environments.

According to the ministry, the recovery framework has been designed to help create an education system capable of withstanding future crises while guaranteeing equal educational opportunities for all Palestinian children.

The Ministry of Education emphasized that the report, released as Gaza marks 1,000 days since the beginning of the Israeli assault, is intended as both a scientific reference and a call to action for the international community.

The ministry urged international organizations, humanitarian agencies, donor institutions, and educational partners to intensify their support for Gaza’s education sector and contribute to efforts aimed at rebuilding schools, restoring educational services, and protecting the right of Palestinian children to learn.

Palestinian education officials stressed that rebuilding the education sector is essential not only for addressing the immediate humanitarian consequences of the war but also for preserving the future of an entire generation that has endured years of siege, displacement, and conflict.

The report concludes that restoring education in Gaza is a critical component of broader reconstruction efforts and calls for coordinated international action to ensure that Palestinian students can once again access quality education on secure and sustainable foundations. (ILKHA)