Fifty schools in Gaza have been damaged by Israeli airstrikes over the past week, Save the Children said today, impacting 41,897 children. Three further schools have reportedly been damaged in Israel by rockets from Gaza. Attacking schools or hospitals is a grave violation against children and Save the Children is urging all parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and to protect them.
The loss of one child’s life to conflict is one too many.
Destruction and rubble after airstrikes in Gaza, May 2021. ©Photo by Hazem Alabyad/OCHA photo Archive
Lee continued: “Now 61 children have been killed in Gaza, and two in Israel – and the number is increasing every day. This is an abdication of moral and legal responsibility. The brutal truth is that no child is left unscathed and time and time again we see that children’s lives are the hardest hit by conflict.
The destruction of schools is an abomination. Sites of learning, opportunity, play and fun for children have swiftly transformed into refuges from the bombing as homes have been destroyed and families ripped apart – and sadly the numbers of schools being destroyed show that even here, there is nowhere to hide. One in 15 schools in Gaza has now been damaged. With every school that is damaged or destroyed, children’s prospects of experiencing—and building—a better future diminish.
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Save the Children is one of the largest non-governmental organisations working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza). We run projects in education, child protection, livelihoods, economic development and health.