Children of Gaza Return to School Amid the Rubble

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In Gaza, the school bell did not only signal the start of the new school year; it was also an announcement of the return of some semblance of life that had been overshadowed by war. While children carried their bags and joyfully headed to their classrooms, many of them did not find the schools they had left years ago, but rather tents, temporary buildings, and sandy grounds that had turned into classrooms, while their original buildings remained either destroyed or severely damaged.

Thus, the return to school was laden with a harsh paradox: children celebrating the beginning of a new year, while surrounded by rubble that reminds them that the scars of war are still present in the details of their daily lives.

Hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza returned to in-person classes last Saturday for the first time in nearly three years, with the start of the 2026-2027 school year, amid extensive damage to the educational infrastructure, a shortage of basic supplies, and a sharp rise in their prices.

In an effort to bring children back to school, the Ministry of Education, with support from international and local organizations, began operating dozens of temporary educational sites, including tents and metal and wooden buildings. Some of these sites have classroom setups that consist of only benches for students to sit on and a blackboard, while other schools are still being used as shelters for displaced families.

In this context, Ibrahim Ramadan, the Director of Education in East Khan Younis, stated that the reopening of schools represents a turning point, after the conflict claimed the lives of about 22,000 students and more than 770 education sector workers, including 532 teachers, according to "Reuters."

On the first school morning amidst tents and rubble.. nearly half a million students return to school in Gaza pic.twitter.com/qXB38CY37O

Meanwhile, Moyed Abu Mustafa, from Khan Younis, said: "The last time I was in school was three years ago. Now the new school year has started. A year of joy, a year of happiness, a year of success."

However, his joy quickly collided with the reality of the place, as he added: "Even though we are studying in tents, with no ventilation or anything, and we sit on mats... there are no notebooks or pens.. despite that, we will study, and we will study in a tent."

For her part, displaced student Samar Abu Salmi, 15 years old, returned to school after a period during which she followed her lessons via phone. She said: "Before the war, we were studying, and now we want to achieve our dream," adding that her family can no longer afford the costs of notebooks, pens, clothes, and other needs that were available before the war.

Yamen Abu Samra, who is 14 years old, said: "Before (the war), we used to wake up happy and go to school... now when we come to school, we are afraid of stray bullets, rockets, and shells."

The issue does not stop at fear; he added that the classroom he studies in lacks electricity, generators, and solar panels. He said: "There is nothing in it, only the sun and the heat."

At the same time, the rubble has made access to education more difficult; UNICEF indicates that there are about 60 million tons of debris in Gaza, with some areas likely containing explosive remnants, making the journey to school itself part of the dangers faced by children.

In addition to destruction and fear, families face another equally harsh problem, which is the rising cost of school supplies. Returning to school has become an additional financial burden on families exhausted by war, displacement, and loss of income. Khaled Aliyan, a 30-year-old stationery trader, stated that import restrictions have led to a shortage of supplies and increased prices of stationery, explaining: "This notebook used to cost three shekels, today it has become 15 shekels. All types of stationery are expensive."

Despite this, it is expected that at least 540,000 students will enroll this year in in-person education in schools, centers, and temporary sites, while online education continues for children who cannot access classrooms or who left Gaza during the war.

UNICEF announced that about 98 percent of school buildings in the sector were damaged, while around 660,000 students were deprived of regular in-person education during the war.

In the end, the return to school in Gaza does not seem like a normal return to the classroom; children enter a new year carrying memories of displacement, fear, and the loss of friends and teachers, standing in front of schools that no longer resemble those they once knew. Nevertheless, this return seems like an attempt to seize a normal moment from the heart of an abnormal reality: bags, notebooks, and a blackboard, but behind them are destroyed buildings, tents, and rubble. While children rejoice at the start of their school year, they are trying to reclaim their right to learn, as if every new lesson says that the war, no matter how much destruction it left behind, could not take away their dream of school.