UNRWA warns of a lost generation: 660,000 Gazan children are out of school

The UN agency described the conflict in Gaza as “a war on children that must end. Children must be protected at all times,” warning that Gazan children are “close to becoming a lost generation.”

The agency called for an immediate ceasefire and full access for children to return to their schools and daily lives.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education announced that the new academic year will begin in early September in the occupied West Bank, including east Al-Quds, but will be postponed until the 8th of September in other parts of the West Bank.

The Ministry estimated that Gaza is home to approximately 700,000 students whose education has been interrupted following years of deprivation and targeting. It also noted that 70,000 students have missed their chance to sit for their secondary school exit exams over two consecutive years.

Since the onset of the genocide, over 17,085 school-age students and more than 1,261 university students have been martyred in Gaza, and over 25,213 school students and 2,671 university students have been injured, from 7 October 2023 to 26 August 2025, the Ministry’s latest update affirms.

In the West Bank, during the same period, Zionist regime’s forces martyred approximately 108 school students and 35 university students and injured around 739 school students and over 231 university students while arresting 372 school students and more than 413 university students.

The Ministry further reported that Israel killed 739 school educators and 226 university educators in Gaza and injured 3,091 school staff and over 1,421 university staff. Additionally, in the West Bank, the occupation forces killed five educational staff members and wounded around 21 others, while arresting more than 182 school staff and approximately 17 university staff.