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UN: Israel’s attacks on schools in Gaza are ‘systematic’

April 17, 2024 at 10:46 am

A view of destroyed UNRWA Palestinian School following Israeli attacks hit Jabalia Camp in Jabalia, Gaza on December 12, 2023 [Mahmoud Sabbah – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli attacks on schools and universities in the Gaza Strip are “systematic”, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian Territories told reporters yesterday.

The head of the UN OCHA in the occupied Palestinian territory, Andrea de Domenico said: “Education is fundamental to build peace … education is the hope for the future.”

The UN office had previously reported that about 92 per cent of all school buildings in Gaza are being used as shelters for displaced persons, and about 392 schools (79 per cent of the total school buildings in Gaza) were damaged, including 141 schools that were severely damaged or completely destroyed.

He also highlighted the troubling attacks on hospitals, stating that after Israel raided the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, UN teams went there and faced a “scene of terror.”

Highlighting that 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to survive, de Domenico said that despite the UN’s efforts, the “reality is that there is very little that we can bring inside Gaza to tackle displacement and deal with famine.”

The Israeli occupation army has continued its aggression against the Gaza Strip, with American and European support, since 7 October. The occupation has killed more than  33,899 Palestinians and wounded 76,664 Palestinians as a result of its bombing campaign, the vast majority of which are children and women.

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