Gaza’s Ministry of Education announces the 2023-2024 school year is suspended due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment and invasion of Gaza. Over 4,000 Palestinian children have been killed so far in Israeli air strikes since 7 October 2023.
Gaza’s Ministry of Education has suspended the school year 2023-2024 for the 625,000 students in the besieged enclave.
This comes as Israel continues its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, displacing over 1.5 million Palestinians and forcing tens of thousands taking shelter in schools after being forcibly displaced from the north of the Strip.
In the month since Israel’s bombing campaign began, some 10,000 Palestinians have been killed, over 4,000 of whom were children, while over 2,000 are missing and presumed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Of those, some 1,250 are said to be children.
As a result of the mass displacement and lack of security, schools in the Strip have been transformed into safe spaces for Palestinians to live, though even these have not been spared from Israel’s bombs.
This has been condemned by rights group Save the Children, whose Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee, said: “Our worst fears are being realised. We’re seeing schools and hospitals – places of safety and sanctuary – being targeted. Civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools must be protected at all times.”
‘We want to live’: Children in Gaza hold a press conference pleading for peace
A group of children have held a press conference outside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza pleading for the world to take action and stop Israel’s bombardment.
In the moving video, a young boy, among at least 20 other children, speaks from behind several microphones and implores the world to “protect them.”
He said: “Since 7 October, we’ve faced extermination, killing, bombing over our heads – all of this in front of the world.”
“They lied to the world that they kill the fighters, but they kill the people of Gaza, their dreams and their future. Kids of Gaza run out of their hopes and wants.”
“We come now to shout and invite you to protect us.”
“We want to live, we want peace, we want judgement for the killers of children. We want shelter, food and education, and we want to live as the other children live.”
Source: Middle East Monitor, Standard.co.uk