Report: Gaza's education system left in ruins three years into the Israel-Hamas war

Three years after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, the education system in the Gaza Strip has suffered extensive damage, according to a report highlighted by Turkey's Anadolu Agency.

Scale of the damage

The report states that more than 20,000 students have been killed since fighting began in October 2023, a figure attributed to Gaza's local authorities. The agency's report frames the conflict's impact on education as part of a broader pattern of destruction affecting schools, universities and other learning institutions across the territory.

Independent, verified tolls specific to students killed in the conflict are difficult to establish, and figures cited by different parties to the conflict have varied. The characterization of the conflict as a “genocide” in the source report reflects the publisher's own framing and is disputed by Israeli officials, who maintain that military operations in Gaza are directed at Hamas and affiliated armed groups.

Impact on schools and universities

Numerous school buildings and university campuses in Gaza have reportedly sustained damage or been destroyed during the war, according to assessments by humanitarian and educational organizations that have tracked the conflict since it began. Many students have gone years without access to formal classroom instruction, with some education continuing informally or online where possible.

The disruption has affected an entire generation of young people in Gaza, raising concerns among aid groups about long-term consequences for literacy, higher education access and economic prospects once the conflict ends.

Ongoing dispute over the conflict's characterization

The war, which began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has drawn sharply differing characterizations from different parties. Hamas and its allies, along with some international bodies and rights groups, have described Israel's military campaign using terms including “genocide,” while Israel rejects that characterization and says its operations are acts of self-defense against Hamas.

No independent, internationally verified figures on total student deaths in Gaza were cited in the Anadolu Agency report beyond the 20,000 figure attributed to local sources.