Over 19,000 Palestinian Schoolchildren Killed Since October 2023
The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education said Thursday that more than 19,000 schoolchildren have been killed and around 28,000 others wounded since the beginning of the Zionist aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023.
“More than 19,000 schoolchildren have been martyred and around 28,000 wounded, while hundreds of schools, kindergartens, nurseries, and playgrounds have been totally or partially damaged in Gaza and the West Bank since the beginning of the genocidal aggression,” the ministry wrote in a statement published on the occasion of World Children’s Day, celebrated each year on November 20.
On this day dedicated worldwide to children’s rights to protection, education, dignity, care, play, and other essentials, “the children of Palestine deserve to live in a stable environment that guarantees their right to free, safe, and quality education, as guaranteed by international charters and laws, including the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child,” it added.
The ministry further stressed that “while countries and institutions around the world celebrate this event, the violations committed by the occupation army and its settlers against our children continue in various regions, in Gaza, in Al-Quds, and in areas classified as ‘C’ (under Zionist occupation).”
“Hardly a day passes without an innocent child being mourned after falling as a martyr to the bullets of a settler or an occupation soldier. This reality is not limited to statistics; it is the story of lives, dreams, ambitions, and hopes shattered in an instant,” the ministry said, adding that “the consequences of the crimes committed by the occupation army against children in Gaza remain visible and demand accountability and deterrence.”
In this context, the ministry called for “the urgent protection of children and students in Palestine, support for relief and educational recovery efforts for children and students in Gaza, rehabilitation of educational infrastructure in affected areas, expansion of psychosocial support programs for affected students, and continued investment in equitable, quality education that strengthens resilience.”
