Education under fire: Gaza’s children face death on their way to school

Children and teachers in Gaza have been attacked while travelling to school, attending lessons, or gathering on campuses. The danger has made education itself life-threatening. Between October 18 and 24, 10 children aged six to 16 and one teacher were killed. Other students were wounded in attacks near schools and universities.

Mohammed Hamad, 14, was killed by an Israeli strike while walking home from school with his younger brother. Ten-year-old Abdullah survived but became afraid to return alone. Suad Abd Rabbo, a fourth-grade student, was shot near school. The bullet remains lodged in her leg because removing it could cause paralysis.

Classes resumed in tents and makeshift buildings, but air raids and sniper fire continued. Two girls were wounded during morning assembly, and five students were injured at the Islamic University campus. The Ministry of Education called for urgent international action to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities.

The “Yellow Line” is a point that divided Gaza’s territory between Israeli and Palestinian control under the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. It matters because schools and travel routes near this line have become highly dangerous. Pupils and teachers may cross or pass close to an area where control and military activity remain contested.

The article reports that the line moved westward, giving Israel control of more than 65 percent of Gaza. It says at least 66 Palestinian children have been killed close to the line. Students and teachers travelling nearby remain exposed to Israeli sniper fire and bombs.

This danger affects more than classroom safety. It can prevent children from reaching school, discourage families from sending them, and turn ordinary journeys into life-threatening events. The article describes the Yellow Line as a particular risk for schools located nearby, even after education resumed under a ceasefire.

The article gives several overlapping figures for the violence. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported at least 1,574 Palestinians killed and 5,687 injured since the ceasefire was established last October. These figures cover the wider attacks in Gaza, not only incidents at schools.

School-related casualties included 10 children, aged six to 16, and one teacher killed between October 18 and 24. Two girls were wounded during morning assembly at Muradiya School. Five students were also injured, some critically, in an attack on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City.

The article separately reports that at least 66 Palestinian children were killed close to the Yellow Line. Because the figures describe different groups and periods, they should not simply be added together. Together, they show the scale of civilian harm and the specific risks facing education communities.

Gaza’s schools had faced nearly three years of disruption caused by Israel’s war. That interruption broke children’s education and weakened the ordinary routines that schools provide. When the academic year resumed on September 19, families saw a chance to rebuild some normality after years of upheaval.

Because regular education facilities and conditions were disrupted, children returned to makeshift classrooms and tents. The article presents these spaces as temporary places where lessons could continue. The return was important even though it could not remove the wider danger facing students and teachers.

Resuming classes offered families hope, but the timing also exposed children to renewed attacks. Israeli air raids and sniper fire continued after the ceasefire, and school communities suffered deaths and injuries. The effort to restore education therefore became both a sign of resilience and a daily security risk.

The attacks are damaging children’s mental health as well as their education. Children have witnessed deaths, suffered injuries, and learned that ordinary journeys can become deadly. Fear and anxiety make it difficult to attend school, concentrate, or return after an attack.

Abdullah, aged 10, survived the strike that killed his brother Mohammed on their way home. He now fears going to school alone and worries about losing his father. Suad Abd Rabbo returned to her tent after surgery, but she cannot walk or move around because a bullet remains in her leg.

These experiences can keep children away from classrooms and limit their ability to participate even when they return. The article does not give attendance totals or formal mental-health measurements. It shows, however, that continuing attacks, grief, fear, and inadequate treatment are making regular schooling extremely difficult.

Israel’s control over movement into and out of Gaza can prevent injured children from reaching specialist care abroad. This matters when local doctors cannot safely complete treatment or when a child needs surgery unavailable inside Gaza. Delayed treatment can prolong pain, immobility, and disability.

Suad Abd Rabbo was shot above the knee. Doctors operated but could not remove the bullet because it was lodged near nerves and tendons, and removal could cause paralysis. She was discharged but remained unable to walk. Her mother said Suad needs surgery abroad to fully recover.

The article states that Israel tightly controls exit and entry from Gaza, making Suad’s prospects for proper treatment remote. It does not describe her application status or give a general number of children denied passage. Her case shows how movement restrictions can continue harming an injured child after the immediate attack has ended.

The article does not detail international humanitarian law, so this answer uses established legal principles. Parties to an armed conflict must distinguish civilians and civilian objects from military targets. They may not directly attack civilians, schools, or universities when those places are civilian objects.

Children receive special protection because of their age and vulnerability. Parties must take feasible precautions to reduce civilian harm, avoid disproportionate attacks, and provide care for the wounded. A school or university can lose protection if used for military purposes, but an attack must still follow distinction, proportionality, and precaution rules.

These protections mean education sites and routes should not become targets, and civilians must not be treated as military objectives. The article reports deaths, injuries, sniper fire, and strikes affecting students and teachers, then quotes Gaza’s Ministry of Education calling for urgent international action to protect education communities.