Generation of Gaza kids taught a harsh lesson in Israel war

BISSAN Younis looked dejected outside a cluster of tents surrounded by rubble, a wasteland view now so common in Gaza.

- BY WAFAA SHURAFA & KAREEM CHEHAYEB

Palestinian high school students return to class, weeks after a ceasefire was announced Pupils attend class inside a tent on Khan Younis beach

The tiny encampment was yet another makeshift school that has no room for her teenage son Kareem.

She said: “Most of the schools are destroyed. Every school I go to tells me there is no room”

More than 600,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have missed the past two years of learning because of Israel's onslaught.

Instead of studying and socializing, they have been displaced, fled airstrikes and shelling and often spent their days scouring for water and food.

MISSED

UNICEF spokesman John Crickx said it's critical kids return to classes as soon as possible.

He added: “If we don't offer education there could be terrible consequences for an entire generation”.

UNICEF estimates 630,000 Palestinian children missed out on school during the war. Crickx says that so far, only about 100,000 children have been able to return.