Gaza (Union)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed that more than 76% of schools in the Gaza Strip need to be significantly rebuilt or rehabilitated to be able to operate again, warning that the lack of supplies and the collapse of law and order undermine the provision of aid.
The agency said, in a post on the “X” platform: “In Gaza, more than 76% of schools need major reconstruction or rehabilitation, in order to be able to operate again, according to the International Education Group.” She stressed that education is a basic human right, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the besieged Gaza Strip.
In this context, UNRWA warned that the lack of supplies and the collapse of law and order in the sector undermine the provision of aid.
Commenting on the continuation of the war, acting director of planning, Sam Rose, said, “There is no real ceasefire in Gaza.”
He added, “The shortage of supplies and the collapse of law and order undermine the process of providing aid to the people of Gaza.” He concluded his speech by saying: “Every day that the Gaza war continues, humanitarian operations become more difficult.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left more than 123,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, and more than 10,000 missing, in addition to a severe shortage of humanitarian and food supplies that has reached the point of famine, especially in the north of the Strip.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern that “lawlessness” in the Gaza Strip is preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid in the besieged Strip.
Guterres said, “The complete lawlessness inside Gaza makes it very difficult to distribute aid within the region.” He pointed out that the looting of relief supplies and trucks complicates the distribution process, noting that “there must be a mechanism that ensures the existence of a minimum level of law and order that allows the distribution process to be completed.”
The Secretary-General of the United Nations renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian factions.
In another context, Palestinian sources announced yesterday that the 9-month war on the Gaza Strip has deprived 800,000 students of their right to education.
The source said that more than 800,000 male and female students from various educational levels in Gaza were deprived of their right to education after they stopped studying since October 7, due to the Israeli war on the Strip.
He added that among these, 40,000 male and female students in the various branches of high school will not be able to enroll in this session of the high school exams that began yesterday, “which represents a precedent and a serious violation that threatens their future and undermines their chances of enrolling in local and foreign universities and colleges.”
Yesterday morning, about 50,000 students, both male and female, headed to the exam halls for the final year of the “Tawjihi” secondary stage in the West Bank governorates and Palestinian schools abroad, while the war deprived students in the Gaza Strip from taking the exams.
The source explained that “85 percent of educational facilities were out of service as a result of their direct and deliberate targeting, which will pose a major challenge to efforts to resume the educational process after the end of the war.” He added: “The necessary plans have been put in place to compensate for the academic year for students in grades one through eleven and students of higher education, to ensure that they do not miss the academic year, and that they possess the basic concepts and skills necessary for the continuation of their subsequent learning.” With the outbreak of the devastating war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, studies were suspended in schools and universities in the Strip, in order to protect the lives of students in light of the violent and intense bombardment. As of June 17, the 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.
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