Gaza Back to School!

So the new school year in Gaza begins in tents for the fourth year.

Consecutive year, hundreds of thousands of Gaza's children return not to a classroom, but to fabric shelters and makeshift wooden structures holding onto traces of a school system Israel's genocide has destroyed.

Fourth consecutive year.

I just want to reiterate that, by the way.

Fourth year.

Like, man.

Palo de Hues, 37, walks through the markets with his two sons, 8-year-old Munther and 11-year-old Hassan, searching for what they need to begin the new school year.

Backpacks, uniforms, notebooks, you know, basic supplies.

In September at this time of year, Goss' children once looked forward to returning to school.

There would be the excitement of shopping for new uniforms and bags, reuniting with their teachers and classmates, and filling in the classrooms decorated for the beginning of another academic year.

Gaza's markets would be caught in a frenzy of back-to-school bargains with shops displaying school supplies in every shape, size, and price range.

But for the third year in a row, the start of the school year bears little resemblance to one Gaza's family, remember? I walked through the markets, but whenever I find what my children need, I am shocked by the prices, Owei said.

But my calculations buying the basic supplies for each of my two sons would cost more than 250 shekels, around $80.

Before the war, it cost less than 100 shekels, around $30.

The 2026-2027 academic year in Palestine is scheduled to begin on September 19th, while Palestinian children elsewhere will return to school buildings.

Many children in Gaza will return to educational tents if they return at all.

More than 97% of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since October 2023, according to UNICEF figures, leaving around 658,000 school-aged children without access to formal education.

Gaza's school system, one of the most developed in the Arab world before the war, with a literacy rate consistently above 97%.

Maybe they could teach our school something, you know? I don't know what our literacy rate is,

So the new school year in Gaza begins in tents for the fourth year.

Consecutive year, hundreds of thousands of Gaza's children return not to a classroom, but to fabric shelters and makeshift wooden structures holding onto traces of a school system Israel's genocide has destroyed.

Fourth consecutive year.

I just want to reiterate that, by the way.

Fourth year.

Like, man.

Palo de Hues, 37, walks through the markets with his two sons, 8-year-old Munther and 11-year-old Hassan, searching for what they need to begin the new school year.

Backpacks, uniforms, notebooks, you know, basic supplies.

In September at this time of year, Goss' children once looked forward to returning to school.

There would be the excitement of shopping for new uniforms and bags, reuniting with their teachers and classmates, and filling in the classrooms decorated for the beginning of another academic year.

Gaza's markets would be caught in a frenzy of back-to-school bargains with shops displaying school supplies in every shape, size, and price range.

But for the third year in a row, the start of the school year bears little resemblance to one Gaza's family, remember? I walked through the markets, but whenever I find what my children need, I am shocked by the prices, Owei said.

But my calculations buying the basic supplies for each of my two sons would cost more than 250 shekels, around $80.

Before the war, it cost less than 100 shekels, around $30.

The 2026-2027 academic year in Palestine is scheduled to begin on September 19th, while Palestinian children elsewhere will return to school buildings.

Many children in Gaza will return to educational tents if they return at all.

More than 97% of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since October 2023, according to UNICEF figures, leaving around 658,000 school-aged children without access to formal education.

Gaza's school system, one of the most developed in the Arab world before the war, with a literacy rate consistently above 97%.

Maybe they could teach our school something, you know? I don't know what our literacy rate is,