Photos: Gaza’s children return to class in tents and ruins

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children filed back into classrooms in the Gaza Strip on the first day of the new school year, entering a mix of damaged school buildings, improvised tent classrooms and makeshift learning spaces. The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education reported roughly 541,000 students returned to education on September 19, following nearly three years of disruptions tied to the war.

Aid agencies and local officials described severe damage to the education system across the enclave. UNICEF has assessed that 98 percent of schools in Gaza were destroyed or damaged since the conflict began, and more than 93 percent of those damaged require major rehabilitation or full reconstruction. Local education authorities said about 660,000 students have been denied regular, in-person learning, and tens of thousands of civilians working in education were killed during the fighting.

Classrooms vary from tarpaulin and metal-sheet tents to partially standing school buildings; some rooms are little more than a few mattresses and a blackboard. Many students lack basic supplies. Aid and local reports note shortages and steep price inflation for stationery after import restrictions, and families displaced into tents or shelters are sharing space with temporary schools. Students and teachers said the return is a hopeful but precarious step toward rebuilding daily life and resumed instruction.

The resumption of face-to-face classes follows a decline in large-scale fighting after an October 2025 ceasefire, yet Israeli forces continue to control more than 60 percent of the territory, according to the reporting. Humanitarian agencies and education authorities continue to rely on temporary measures supported by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations while calling attention to the extensive reconstruction and support needed to restore Gaza’s schooling system.