Palestinian rights advocates warned Sunday that Israel’s ongoing genocide has pushed Gaza’s education system toward collapse, while British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called for a firmer response to the worsening humanitarian and medical crisis.
The Gaza Center for Human Rights said the territory’s education system is collapsing for a fourth consecutive academic year. It said the killing of students and educators, combined with the destruction of schools and learning materials, has made the right to education a major casualty of the genocide in Gaza.
With a new school year approaching, hundreds of thousands of children still lack safe and regular access to education after years of attacks, destruction and displacement. The Center said the damage extends beyond interrupted classes and is eroding Palestinian society’s ability to preserve and transmit knowledge.
The Center reported that more than 20,051 school-age students have been killed since October 2023, while at least 19,886 others have left the education system because of displacement, travel, abduction or injury.
It added that more than 532 teachers employed by public, private and UNRWA schools have been killed, along with at least 769 Education Ministry employees, including administrative and support staff.
The Center stressed that reopening buildings alone cannot replace the students, teachers and institutional capacity that have been lost.
Before the genocide, Gaza had 609,751 school-age children. Based on normal population growth, that figure was projected to reach 665,769 in the 2026–2027 academic year. The Center now projects enrollment of no more than 625,832 students, leaving an estimated shortfall of 39,937.
The annual school calendar has been reduced from 200 instructional days to 60, while weekly lessons have fallen from 30 to 12. Curricula have been shortened, and practical activities have declined by as much as 60 percent in some subjects.
The Center warned that children deprived of regular schooling for successive years face an accumulated learning loss that will be extremely difficult to reverse.
Gaza had 584 school buildings before the genocide, according to the Center. It said 96 have been completely destroyed and 44 partially destroyed, while dozens more have sustained varying levels of damage.
At least 9,308 classroom boards, 142,242 desks and 440,000 seats have been lost. The normal work of 26,776 education employees, including 22,030 teachers, has also been disrupted.
The Center said the damage extends beyond buildings to Gaza’s entire learning environment, including its equipment, staff, records and administrative capacity.
Schools and other educational facilities are protected civilian objects under international humanitarian law. The right to education is also guaranteed by Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and by Articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Center said investigations into attacks on schools, students and educators must determine responsibility in each incident by examining the target’s military status and whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution were observed.
The Center called on the United Nations and the international community to act immediately to end the genocide, protect civilians and educational facilities, and ensure accountability for international crimes.
It urged the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry and the International Criminal Court to investigate attacks on students, educators and schools, and called on UNESCO, UNICEF and UNRWA to help restore education, deliver supplies and rehabilitate schools that can be repaired.
The Center also called for urgent donor funding to rebuild educational facilities, replace destroyed equipment, provide broad psychosocial and remedial-learning programs, and secure every child’s safe return to formal education.
It warned that a fourth year of educational destruction threatens far more than lost school time, leaving lasting consequences for an entire generation and for Gaza’s ability to recover and rebuild its institutions.
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called for a firmer UK response after meeting aid workers, medical personnel and representatives of international humanitarian organizations. The meeting included people who had recently returned from Gaza and others participating from inside the territory, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s September 6 report.
Miliband said participants gave what he described as deeply disturbing accounts of medicines being withheld and children dying while awaiting life-saving treatment. He said the testimonies required the British government to take more decisive action.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected Miliband’s remarks, claiming they relied on accounts rather than conditions on the ground. It alleged that there were no restrictions on medicines entering Gaza and said about 22,500 tons of medical supplies had entered since the ceasefire began. The ministry also said Gaza residents continued to leave for medical treatment abroad, including 200 people during the previous two weeks.
On August 3, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reported shortages affecting 61 percent of cancer and blood-disease medicines, 47 percent of medicines overall, 58 percent of medical supplies and 85 percent of laboratory materials. The figures were cited in Al Jazeera Arabic’s September 6 report alongside Israel’s claims about medical aid entering Gaza.
The Ministry said shortages were affecting maternal and child health services, primary care, kidney treatment, mental health services, emergency departments and intensive care. It added that shortages of basic laboratory tests, including complete blood counts, blood-gas analysis and clinical chemistry tests, were limiting doctors’ ability to diagnose critical conditions and save lives.
Reuters reported that an Israeli attack extensively damaged medicine warehouses at Al-Aqsa Hospital on August 1. Two of the facility’s four storage buildings were destroyed, while the remaining two and the outpatient building were heavily damaged. The Ministry said substantial quantities of medicines and medical supplies intended for patients and wounded Palestinians were lost.
The Ministry said Israeli attacks, fuel shortages and restrictions on medical supplies have forced dozens of hospitals, clinics and primary-care centers partly or completely out of service. It reported that 1,701 health workers have been killed since October 7, 2023, including 320 consultants and specialists, along with nurses, administrators and other medical personnel.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces killed 1,344 Palestinians and injured 4,464 others in reported ceasefire violations between October 11, 2025, and September 5, 2026. Rescue teams also recovered the bodies of 815 Palestinians during that period.
The Ministry said the cumulative death toll from Israel’s genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, had reached 73,651 as of September 5, 2026, with 174,575 Palestinians injured.
Sources
- Al Jazeera Arabic — British statements on Gaza draw Israeli anger, September 6, 2026
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — Independent International Commission of Inquiry
- UNESCO — Education in Gaza
- Palestinian Information Center — Gaza medicine-shortage figures, August 3, 2026
- Reuters — Israeli attack destroys medicine storage warehouses in Gaza, August 1, 2026
