Lamis Osama al-Baa’ was excited. She was about to enter a new stage of her education, moving from being a primary school student to a student at the Beit Hanoun Preparatory School for Girls, run by the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Today she is here, but not as a student – as she had dreamed – but as a displaced Palestinian seeking refuge from the bombings. “Before the war started, I had just started seventh grade. I was very excited because it was a new scene and a new school. I had spent six years in the same school, and this one was new. I bought a green backpack and I was happy. But I only attended classes for a month.” he says with visible sadness.
Education is a fundamental human right and a priority in Gaza, where one in two people is a child. The impact of the offensive is particularly affecting their mental and psychosocial well-being; the trauma is widespread and will have long-lasting consequences.
Before the offensive, UNRWA had 288 schools in 183 buildings. According to the latest data, 83.4% of the Agency’s schools have suffered impacts or damage and 92.9% of schools in the Gaza Strip, both UNRWA and government, were damaged.
“My journey to school before October was enjoyable. I used to walk from home to school with my friend. We talked a lot on the way. Today, I feel like it was all a dream. The reality now is that the journey from home to school is a journey to escape the bombings, fear and displacement under the bombs. Before, I went to school knowing that I would laugh and play a lot, but today, I don’t like being in this school or sleeping in this crowded classroom.
This 13-year-old girl is one of the most 625,000 children in Gaza lost an entire school year Due to the ongoing Israeli offensive, 300,000 of these minors were enrolled in UNRWA schools, which provide inclusive education and stand out as one of the best education systems in the region. Before October 7, UNRWA was the second largest education provider in Gaza. Currently, the situation is desperate.
Al-Baa left his home on October 13, 2023, after receiving messages from the Israeli army forcing them to leave Beit Hanoun. “We went out at 2am and they were already bombing houses around us while we were on the street.
“We arrived at Al-Zaitoun School in Gaza City at 9am and slept in the courtyard. The shelling continued around us, near the school. We slept and suddenly woke up to rain falling on us, soaking all our belongings.
Al-Baa’ and his family spent some three days at school before it was attacked by the Israeli army and they had to flee again.
“Suddenly we woke up on the night of October 17th with things falling on us. I woke up and looked around and found my brother and three of my cousins seriously injured. “I was suffocating from the smoke,” he continued.
As soon as he got up from the mattress, it was melted by the fire. The school had been bombed. “Everyone was screaming and crying, and my injured cousin called his mother to take him. We had to evacuate the school again after taking the injured to the hospital, and four days later we headed south.
And this is the story of thousands of families who no longer know where to go, or what will happen to their lives. The last few months have been extremely difficult for everyone in Gaza, but the greatest impact of this offensive is on the children, on the future of Gaza.
