Attacks on schools during the Israeli invasion of Gaza
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted numerous airstrikes on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip as part of its military operations in the Israel–Hamas war. The IDF claims such airstrikes are the result of the placement of military infrastructure and rocket launching from civilian areas, including schools. By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed.[1][2]
Breakdown of deaths by age and gender (analysis by professors Michael Spagat and Daniel Silverman), November 2023[3]
Motivation
Hamas has been accused by NATO, the UN, EU, US, and Israel of launching rockets and positioning military-related infrastructure in civilian facilities, such as schools, as a tactic.[4] During the Israel–Hamas war, the IDF claimed to provide proof of Hamas rockets launched next to schools.[5][6] Since the Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants casualties,[7] it is unknown how many of each were killed in the airstrikes.
Many, including over 1,600 academics, and news channels have said that Israel is targeting educational facilities and committing scholasticide in Gaza.[8][9][10] Sean Carroll, the CEO of the American Near East Refugee Aid, stated scholasticide was an accurate term and described the "targeting" of schools.[11]
Impact
The Gaza Education Ministry stated that 4,037 students and 209 educational staff were killed, 7,259 students and 619 teachers were wounded, and 352 schools were damaged between 7 October and 26 December.[12] On 16 January, the Education Ministry reported 4,368 students had been killed and 388 schools damaged since 7 October.[13] Human rights groups reported 94 professors had been killed.[14] By 4 February 2024, Gaza’s Ministry of Education stated 4,800 students had been killed.[15] In March 2024, the Ministry of Education and the UN stated that 5,479 students had been killed thus far.[16][17] By the end of March, the Ministry of Education stated the total had risen to 5,881 students.[18]
In late December 2023, the UN stated 90 percent of school buildings in Gaza were being used for shelter.[19] The UN further reported that 75 percent of Gaza's educational infrastructure had been damaged.[20] On 11 February 2024, a representative with the Gaza Education Ministry stated, "All higher education institutions in the Gaza Strip were damaged, either completely or partially".[21] In late-April 2024, UNOCHA estimated that 65 percent of schools used to shelter displaced people had been "directly hit or damaged".[22] In May 2024, the Government Media Office stated more than 100 academics in Gaza had been killed by Israel.[23]
Reactions
A master's student at the Islamic University of Gaza stated, "We're talking about not only the structure of the university being destroyed, but also the future of all the students. People who had started studying a master's, material degree, or even a PhD. We don't know how we will continue."[24]
The neologism "scholasticide", also used in 2009 to describe "the systematic destruction by Israeli forces of centers of education dear to Palestinian society",[25] saw a reemergence amid the hostilities in 2023 and early 2024. Professor Chandni Desai of the University of Toronto stated "Scholasticide isn't genocide on its own, but what one could argue that it is part of the genocidal war."[26] Ramy Abdu, head of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, described the Israeli killing of Palestinian political analyst Ayman Rafati as part of the scholasticide in Gaza.[27]
Al Jazeera correspondent Hind Khoudary stated, "Schools in the Gaza Strip are not only schools, they are shelters and graveyards."[28] In May 2024, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa shared an image of an Israeli soldier burning books at Al-Aqsa University, stating, "Israel has targeted all universities in the Strip, with some being completely destroyed".[29]
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has strongly condemned Israel's escalated assaults on UNRWA-operated schools sheltering displaced individuals in different parts of the Gaza Strip. The team at Euro-Med Monitor has documented substantial Israeli air and artillery attacks on no less than five UNRWA-operated schools within the last day. These offensives have led to multiple casualties and signify a grave violation of the legal safeguards that should safeguard UN facilities.[30]
Incidents
Al-Maghazi UNRWA school
On 17 October 2023, an airstrike conducted by the IDF struck a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.[31][32][33] The UNRWA reported six people were killed by the airstrike and dozens more were injured, including UNRWA staff.[33][34][35][36] The organization also claims that at least 4,000 people had taken refuge in the school[37] since the start of the Israel–Hamas war.[31]
At least five people were killed in an airstrike on the Maghazi Secondary Girls School on 27 December.[38]
Osama bin Zaid school
On 3 November 2023, an air strike by the Israel Defense Forces bombed Osama bin Zaid school in the Al-Saftawi area, located in the northern Gaza Strip, a school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 20 people were killed in the airstrike and dozens of other civilians were injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.[39] The Ministry of Health and UNRWA said that at least 1,000 people have taken refuge in school since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.[40][41][42]
Al-Fakhoora school
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 Gazan child speaks of having to carry decapitated body after Israeli strike on Jabalia on 4 November (via The Irish Times) |
On 4 November, a UNRWA spokeswoman confirmed reports that Israel had conducted another airstrike against a UN-run school in the Jabalia refugee camp.[43][44] According to the Gaza health ministry, the attack on the Al-Fakhoora school killed fifteen and wounded dozens more.[43] Reuters reported having obtained a video of a boy crying in despair: "I was standing here when three bombings happened, I carried a body and another decapitated body with my own hands. God will take my vengeance."[43] According to UNRWA, at least one strike hit the schoolyard, where displaced families had set up their tents.[43] In response to the strike, Al Jazeera remarked Israel was "trying to eliminate all sources of survival for the civilian population to force the evacuation to the southern part of Gaza."[45]
A second airstrike on the school occurred in the early hours of the morning on 18 November. Journalists on the scene reported dead bodies everywhere, suggesting the strike may have been an Israeli message to civilians to flee to the southern Gaza Strip.[46] The second strike killed at least 50 people.[47] A video clip surfacing following what has been described as a "massacre" depicts a man walking through several rooms where dozens of corpses can be seen, and distress can be heard throughout the school.[48]
Al-Buraq school
On 9 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed Al-Buraq school on Lababidi Street in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood, north of Gaza City, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. The people took shelter in the school were ones that their homes were destroyed.[49] At least 50 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported.[50] The Israeli missile fell on the school in the morning when thousands of people were sheltering inside it.[51][52] The attack led to the death of at least 50 people and injuries. Among the dead were also children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that dozens of others were injured.[52][53][54] The IDF claimed that Ahmed Siam, a Hamas commander who they alleged “held hostage approximately 1,000 Gazan residents at Rantisi Hospital," was killed in the strike along with other Hamas operatives.[55][56]
Al-Falah School
On 17 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed Al-Falah School in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of the city, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 20 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported.[57][58] The Israeli missile fell on Al-Falah School in the morning, when thousands of people were sheltering in it.[59][60] Due to the communications blackout in the Gaza Strip at the time, rescue teams were not aware of the strike on the school until the following day.[61]
Abu Hussein school
On 23 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed the Abu Hussein School in Jabalia camp, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 27 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported.[62] The Israeli missile fell on Abu Hussein School in the morning when thousands of people were sheltering inside of it.[63] The attack led to the death of at least 27 people and injuries. Among the dead were also children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that about 100 other people were injured in the attack.[64][65]
An-Nazla school
The An-Nazla elementary school in northern Gaza was bombed while hundreds of refugees sheltered there.[66] At least ten people were killed, including children.[67] On 25 May 2024, a woman whose daughter was injured in the attack, stated, "The children were playing in the schoolyard, and suddenly we were bombed. We lived something unnatural."[68]
Al-Sardi
Haifa school
On 15 December 2023, an Israeli airstrike struck the Haifa School in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 20 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported. The aerial bombardment resulted in the death of Al Jazeera photographer Samer Abu Daqqa, and the injury of Wael Al-Dahdouh, director of Al Jazeera in Gaza.[75][76]
Israa University
Israa University in Al-Zahra, south of Gaza City, was destroyed by the Israeli military in January 2024.[77] UNOCHA reported that the IDF had been using the campus as an "an ad hoc detention facility for interrogating Palestinian detainees before their transfer to an unknown location".[78] Birzeit University accused the IDF of stealing 3,000 rare artifacts before destroying the university.[79]
Other
On 4 December 2023, at least 50 people were killed and hundreds of people injured in Israeli airstrikes on two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in the city of Gaza, according to the official news agency Wafa. Israeli fighter jets and artillery cannons shelled the two UN-run schools, including "Salah Ad-Din school" and "Martyr Assad Safwati school" in al-Darraj neighborhood.[80] On 3 December, the Israeli Air Force bombed the Holy Family school in Gaza City.[81]
List of the destroyed schools
According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs, around 500,000 Palestinian children in Gaza are unable to resume their schooling routine due to the ongoing conflict. The war has led to the destruction of 174 schools in Gaza, with 26 public schools and 1 UNRWA school being completely demolished and unable to open for the 2014/2015 academic year. Furthermore, 30 other schools remain closed as they are still being occupied by a large number of displaced individuals. 447 children who lost their lives in the Israeli military attacks will never have the chance to go back to school. The Palestinian Ministry of Education has issued a list of public schools in Gaza that were either severely damaged or destroyed, including the following ones:
- Hani Na’eem School of Agriculture,
- Abu Tammam’s Basic School,
- Hayel Abdel Hameed School,
- Mahdeya el Shawa School,
- Subhi Abu Karsh School,
- The Shujayea Martyrs School,
- Beit Dajan School,
- Ali Bin Abi Talib School,
- Shujayea Basic School,
- Abbas Secondary School,
- Jamal Abd el Nasser School,
- Moaz Bin Jabal School,
- Mahatet Miyah el Karamah School,
- Caesarea School,
- Sukina Bin Hussein School,
- Khawla Bint el Azur School,
- Rudolph Filter School,
- Ibn Zaidun School,
- El Bareej School,
- Fathi el Balawi School,
- Maari School for Girls,
- Maari School for Boys,
- Ibn el Nafis School,
- Absan New School,
- Ghassan Kanafani School for Girls,
- Ghassan Kanafani School for Boys.
Etc.[82]
Effects on children
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As a result of the Israel–Hamas war, children have been disproportionately impacted in the Gaza Strip, where 40% of the population is 14 or under.[83][84][85] On 13 November, UNICEF reported that more than 700,000 children in Gaza were displaced.[86] A dire humanitarian crisis, with reports of children suffering from a serious epidemic of gastroenteritis due to the lack of clean water, led to concerns amongst health officials and aid organizations.[87] Speaking to reporters early in the conflict, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that "Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day."[88]
Save the Children, UNICEF, and Palestinian health officials described children being left with permanent disabilities, mental health issues, and amputations, with thousands experiencing dehydration, malnutrition, respiratory, and skin diseases. By late-March 2024, an estimated 13,000 children in Gaza had been killed, with thousands more buried under rubble.[89] The UNICEF deputy director called the conditions of children in Gaza the "most horrific" he had ever seen.[90][a] The ongoing crisis also impacted routine vaccinations, leaving thousands of children at risk, and further compounded challenges included inadequate shelter, a lack of adequate winter coats, and the psychological toll on children's mental health.[91][92][52][93]
The suspension of the 2023-2024 school year because of the ongoing war has left over 625,000 pupils and also 22,500 teachers in Gaza out of school.[94] In April 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Education stated that 5,994 students in Gaza had been killed since 7 October.[95] UNICEF reported that 80% of schools in Gaza are either damaged or destroyed, leaving students without access to education. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) stated that around 1,000 children in Gaza have suffered the loss of one or both legs. Additionally, the United Nations revealed that over 50,000 children in Gaza are facing severe malnutrition.[96]