In Gaza City, the sound of children reciting lessons is heard again for the first time in nearly two years, as pupils return to school following the October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Classes are now held inside tents erected amid the ruins of the Lulwa Abdel Wahab al-Qatami School in the Tel al-Hawa area of south-west Gaza City. The school was struck by Israeli air attacks in January 2024 and later served as a shelter for displaced families before being repurposed into a temporary learning centre.

Teachers write English letters and basic Arabic words on makeshift boards as children crowd into the tents, marking a fragile but significant return to routine after prolonged disruption.

According to UNICEF, more than 97 per cent of schools in Gaza were damaged or destroyed during the war, leaving most of the territory’s 658,000 school-aged children without formal education for almost two years. Many spent that period grappling with hunger, displacement and the loss of family members.

Fourteen-year-old Naeem al-Asmaar, who previously attended the school, said returning to class has helped restore some normalcy. He lost his mother in an Israeli air strike during the conflict.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” he said quietly. “Before the war, school was in real classrooms. Now it’s tents. We study only four subjects and there isn’t enough space, but being here matters.”

Another student, Rital Alaa Harb, a ninth-grader who hopes to become a dentist, said the war completely disrupted her education.

“There was no time to study, no schools. I missed my friends and my old school,” she said.

The temporary school, run by UNICEF, serves children from the original Lulwa school as well as others displaced by the fighting. Lessons are limited to Arabic, English, mathematics and science, falling short of the full Palestinian curriculum.

The school’s principal, Dr Mohammed Saeed Schheiber, who has worked in education for 24 years, said the initiative aims to help students recover lost learning time.

“We started with determination to compensate students for what they lost,” he said.

The facility currently accommodates about 1,100 pupils across three daily shifts, with boys and girls attending on alternating days. Only 24 teachers are available, and the school operates without electricity, internet access or basic educational resources.

Dr Schheiber said every student has been affected by the war, with more than 100 losing one or both parents, having their homes destroyed, or witnessing killings. A counsellor now provides psychological support, but demand far exceeds capacity.

“There is a large displacement camp next to the school,” he said. “Many children want to enrol, but we simply cannot take them.”

Parents say the return to school offers both relief and anxiety. Huda Bassam al-Dasouki, a mother of five displaced from southern Rimal, said education has become increasingly difficult due to shortages and rising costs.

“A notebook that cost one shekel before the war now costs five,” she said. “Some children have fallen four years behind. My son can’t read or write properly.”

UNICEF says restrictions on aid entering Gaza have worsened the situation. Its spokesman, Jonathan Crickx, said essential school supplies and mental health kits remain largely unavailable.

“Paper, notebooks, pens and recreational kits for psychosocial support have not been allowed in,” he said.

Israel says it is meeting its obligations under the ceasefire and facilitating increased aid deliveries, a claim disputed by the United Nations and several humanitarian agencies. Despite the truce, Israeli air strikes have continued, with Israel citing alleged Hamas violations.

Still, children continue to attend classes.

For teacher Kholoud Habib, their persistence underscores the value Palestinians place on education.

“We lose homes, money and everything else,” she said. “But knowledge is the one investment we can still give our children.” (Arise News)

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