UNRWA: 660,000 children in Gaza are out of school for the third year

OCCUPIED PALESTINE, Aug. 30 (YPA) – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said, on Saturday, that 660,000 children in the Gaza Strip are out of school for the third year in a row due to the ongoing genocidal war for 23 months.

As the West Bank prepares to open its new school year on September 1.

In a statement, UNRWA said that “the war in Gaza is a war on children and must stop. Children must be protected at all times.”

It affirmed children’s right to education, explaining that “660,000 children are out of school for the third year in a row due to the war.”

The UN agency continued: “in Gaza children are threatened with becoming a lost generation.”

It called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to allow children to return to their schools and lives.

On Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced the opening of the new school year in the West Bank in early September.

The ministry explained in posts on Facebook that the Gaza Strip includes about 700,000 students whose implementation was suspended after two years of deprivation and targeting.

It indicated that 70,000 students have been prevented from advancing to high school over the course of two academic years.

The Zionist enemy’s army has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023 with American support, leaving more than 220,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 9,000 missing.