“Books Return to the Classrooms: Gaza’s Children Head Back to School After Two-Year War”

Gaza Strip — In a powerful sign of recovery and resilience, children in the Gaza Strip are gradually returning to school after more than two years of conflict-driven disruption. Schools that were once shelters, and classrooms that lay in ruin, are now slowly resuming the rhythms of education.

A Slow Return to Class

Education services under the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) report that over 25,000 children have already enrolled in “temporary learning spaces,” with some 300,000 more expected to engage via online or blended classes. stern Nuseirat, central Gaza, pupils arrived for the first time in more than two years. One 11-year-old student noted that she had missed two academic years because their school building was repurposed as a shelter for displaced families.

Conditions and Challenges

While the optimism is real, the circumstances remain deeply difficult:

Many classrooms are operating with dozens of students sitting on floors without desks or chairs.

Schools were heavily damaged during the war — some were converted into makeshift shelters, with displaced families still occupying corridors.

Teachers and aid workers say the children are eager, but must contend with trauma, shortages of textbooks and supplies, and insecure infrastructure.

For children: A return to school is more than education — it’s a step toward normalcy, routine, and hope after long disruption.

For the community: Schools reopening signals a shift from emergency survival toward rebuilding lives and futures.

For aid and education agencies: The challenge is immense — restoring learning spaces, training and supporting teachers, repairing or replacing damaged facilities, and addressing the psychosocial needs of children who have endured severe hardship.

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Still Fragile

Observers caution that while the reopening of schools is a hopeful sign, much remains unstable. The war’s legacy of destruction, displacement and trauma is deep, and sustained peace and investment are necessary if education is to recover fully.