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

Gaza children return to classrooms after three years, facing challenges of damaged schools, tents, and scarce supplies.

Palestinian students attend their first day of the new school year inside a tent classroom at a school in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

Hundreds of thousands of children returned to in-person classes in Gaza on Saturday for the first time in nearly three years, filing into damaged school buildings, makeshift classrooms and tents amid a severe shortage of basic supplies.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says 98 percent of schools in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged during Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave, while local education officials estimate about 660,000 students have been deprived of regular, in-person learning.

The reopening is a fragile milestone in a territory where about 22,000 students and more than 770 education workers, including 532 teachers, have been killed, according to Ibrahim Ramadan, director of education for eastern Khan Younis.

“The last time I have been to school was three years ago,” said student Moayed Abu Mustafa in Khan Younis. “Now, we are starting the school year; it is year of joy, happiness and success. Despite all of this, we will learn, we will learn even in a tent.”

Moayed has no proper shoes, notebook or pen, and will sit on the floor in a sweltering tent.

Across Gaza, the Ministry of Education, backed by aid agencies, has set up dozens of temporary schools from tarpaulins, sheet metal and wood. Some classrooms consist of a few mattresses and a blackboard; others still shelter displaced families.

“We studied on phones, and we haven’t seen our teachers. Now, we are back pursuing our dream … from one tent to another,” said 15-year-old Samar Abu Salmi, who lives in a tent with her family and can no longer afford school supplies that were cheap before the war.

Stationery trader Khaled Aliyan said Israeli import restrictions have driven prices up fivefold. “All stationery items are expensive,” he said.

Israeli forces still control more than 60 percent of Gaza despite an October 2025 “ceasefire” that halted large-scale fighting but left the underlying conflict unresolved.

Displaced Palestinian student Samar Abu Salmi, 15, reads a list of names displayed in a school in Khan Younis. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

Tents for displaced Palestinians cover the yard of a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

Palestinian children sit in their classroom on the first day of the new academic year at a United Nations-run school in Nuseirat, the central Gaza Strip. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

A destroyed UN-run school in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, on the first day of the new academic year. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

Palestinian students attend their first day of the new school year at a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip. [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

The return to face-to-face education comes after nearly three years of disruption due to Israel's genocidal war, which has seen almost all of Gaza's population displaced and most buildings in the enclave destroyed. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

Clothes hang out to dry as displaced Palestinians live in a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

About 541,000 students returned to education in Gaza when the new school year began on September 19, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. This comes after a decrease in - but not an end to - violence following an October 2025 "ceasefire". [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

In January, the ministry said 317,332 students were attending face-to-face educational spaces, schools and initiatives in Gaza. Another 120,000 were enrolled in virtual schools taught by teachers from the West Bank. [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]

A Palestinian student looks into his classroom while he attends the first day of the new academic year at a UN-run school in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

Nearly 98 percent of school buildings in Gaza have been damaged since October 2023, with more than 93 percent requiring major rehabilitation or full reconstruction, according to UNICEF. [Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

加沙儿童在三年后重返课堂，面临着学校破损、帐篷简陋和物资匮乏等诸多挑战。

在加沙地带南部汗尤尼斯的一所学校里，巴勒斯坦学生在帐篷教室里开始了新学年的第一天。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

周六，加沙数十万儿童近三年来首次重返校园，在基本物资严重短缺的情况下，他们涌入受损的校舍、临时教室和帐篷。

联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）表示，在以色列对加沙地带发动的种族灭绝战争中，加沙地带 98% 的学校被摧毁或损坏，而当地教育官员估计，约有 66 万名学生被剥夺了正常的面对面学习机会。

据东部汗尤尼斯教育局局长易卜拉欣·拉马丹称，在约有 22,000 名学生和 770 多名教育工作者（包括 532 名教师）丧生的地区，重新开放是一个脆弱的里程碑。

“我上次上学还是三年前，”汗尤尼斯的学生穆阿耶德·阿布·穆斯塔法说。“现在，我们即将开始新学年；这将是充满欢乐、幸福和成功的一年。尽管如此，我们仍然会学习，即使是在帐篷里学习。”

莫耶德没有像样的鞋子、笔记本或笔，他会坐在闷热的帐篷地板上。

在加沙各地，教育部在援助机构的支持下，用防水布、铁皮和木头搭建了数十所临时学校。有些教室只有几张床垫和一块黑板；还有一些教室仍然收容着流离失所的家庭。

“我们以前都是用手机学习，也没见过老师。现在，我们又开始追逐梦想了……从一个帐篷搬到另一个帐篷，”15岁的萨玛尔·阿布·萨尔米说道。她和家人住在帐篷里，战前很便宜的学习用品现在买不起了。

文具商哈立德·阿里扬表示，以色列的进口限制导致价格上涨了五倍。“所有文具都很贵，”他说。

尽管2025年10月达成的“停火”协议停止了大规模战斗，但以色列军队仍然控制着加沙地带60%以上的地区，而根本冲突仍未得到解决。

15岁的巴勒斯坦流离失所学生萨玛尔·阿布·萨尔米正在阅读汗尤尼斯一所学校里张贴的名单。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

在汗尤尼斯，一所学校改建的临时庇护所里搭满了为流离失所的巴勒斯坦人准备的帐篷。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

在加沙地带中部努塞拉特的一所联合国学校，巴勒斯坦儿童在新学年的第一天坐在教室里。[Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

新学年第一天，加沙城沙提难民营内一所联合国运营的学校遭到破坏。[Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

在加沙地带中部努塞拉特，巴勒斯坦学生在联合国近东巴勒斯坦难民救济和工程处（近东救济工程处）开学第一天上课。[马哈茂德·伊萨/路透社]

在以色列发动种族灭绝战争近三年后，加沙地带的线下教学终于恢复。这场战争导致加沙几乎所有居民流离失所，飞地内的大部分建筑被摧毁。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

在加沙地带南部汗尤尼斯，流离失所的巴勒斯坦人住在由学校改建的临时住所里，衣服晾晒在外面。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

据巴勒斯坦教育和高等教育部统计，9月19日新学年开始时，加沙约有54.1万名学生重返校园。此前，尽管双方于2025年10月达成“停火协议”，但暴力事件有所减少，并未完全停止。[马哈茂德·伊萨/路透社]

今年1月，该部表示，加沙地带共有317332名学生在学校和相关教育机构进行面对面学习。另有12万名学生注册了由西岸教师授课的线上课程。[拉马丹·阿贝德/路透社]

在加沙地带中部努塞拉特的一所联合国学校，一名巴勒斯坦学生在新学年的第一天向教室望去。[Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]

据联合国儿童基金会统计，自2023年10月以来，加沙地带近98%的学校建筑遭到破坏，其中超过93%需要进行大规模修缮或彻底重建。[Jehad Alshrafi/AP Photo]