Ministry of Education and Higher Education: We condemn in the strongest terms the occupation’s continued targeting of educational institutions in the Gaza Strip, in a flagrant violation of children’s right to education and an ongoing assault on the foundations of the educational process and the future of Palestinian generations.

Ministry of Education and Higher Education:

▪ We condemn in the strongest terms the occupation’s continued targeting of educational institutions in the Gaza Strip, in a flagrant violation of children’s right to education and an ongoing assault on the foundations of the educational process and the future of Palestinian generations.

▪ Bombing a residential building in the Al-Saftawi area in Jabalia led to the complete destruction of Al-Basma Small Kindergarten, and the blast also caused the destruction of the neighboring Al-Zahraa Private School.

▪ The destruction of educational institutions by direct shelling or as a result of targeting neighboring buildings is an extension of assaults that have affected schools, universities, and kindergartens and deprived hundreds of thousands of students of their right to education.

▪ Targeting kindergartens and schools is not limited to destroying buildings, but affects children’s right to learn, grow, and live a dignified life, and deepens the psychological, educational, and social impacts on them.

▪ We call on the international community and rights and humanitarian institutions to act urgently to stop the targeting of educational institutions and provide protection for children, students, and workers in the education sector.

▪ We call for holding those responsible for these violations accountable and ensuring that they do not escape punishment.

▪ The destruction of schools and kindergartens will not erase the right of Palestine’s children to education, nor will it break the will of a people who hold fast to knowledge and life despite the destruction.

▪ Protecting education in Gaza is no longer merely a humanitarian responsibility, but a real test of the world’s respect for children’s rights and international law.