UN: Schools in Gaza Are Closed as Fighting Continues
2024-09-11
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1The new school year in the Palestinian territories officially began on Monday.
2But all schools in Gaza are closed after 11 months of war.
3There is no sign of a ceasefire.
4Israel gave new orders to people in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes.
5The order came after rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza.
6Umm Zaki has a son, Moataz, who is 15 years old.
7He was supposed to begin 10th grade.
8Instead, he woke up in the family's tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.
9Water is more than one kilometer away from the tent.
10The mother of five told Reuters by text message, "Usually, such a day would be a day of celebration, seeing the children in the new uniform, going to school, and dreaming of becoming doctors and engineers. Today all we hope is that the war ends before we lose any of them."
11The Palestinian Education Ministry said all Gaza schools were closed and 90 percent of them had been destroyed or damaged in the war.
12The war started after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli towns on October 7 killing about 1,200 people.
13The U.N. Palestinian aid agency UNRWA operates about half of Gaza's schools.
14Many of them are now emergency shelters housing thousands of displaced families.
15UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma told Reuters, "The longer the children stay out of school the more difficult it is for them to catch up on their lost learning."
16She added that they are then more likely to become "a lost generation."
17They are at risk for the dangers of "child marriage, child labor, and recruitment into armed groups."
18The education ministry said there are already 625,000 Gazans registered for school who would be missing classes.
19Another 58,000 six year olds should have registered to start first grade this year.
20Last month, the UNRWA started a back-to-learning program in 45 of its shelters.
21Teachers set up games, drama, arts, music and sports activities to help with children's mental health.
22Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once.
23Some have had to flee 10 times.
24In the latest evacuation order, Israel told residents of an area in the northern Gaza Strip that they must leave their homes.
25Rockets had been fired from there into southern Israel the day before.
26The United Nations urged Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to attend medical centers to get children under the age of 10 years old vaccinated against polio.
27There have been breaks in the fighting to permit a vaccination campaign.
28The U.N. hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza.
29The territory's first polio case in around 25 years was recently reported.
30U.N. officials said the campaign in the southern and central Gaza Strip had so far reached more than half of the children there needing the vaccine.
31Four weeks later, the children must get a second vaccination to complete the treatment.
32Touma, the U.N. official, said 450,000 of the children targeted by the campaign had been vaccinated.
33I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1The new school year in the Palestinian territories officially began on Monday. But all schools in Gaza are closed after 11 months of war. There is no sign of a ceasefire. 2Israel gave new orders to people in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes. The order came after rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza. 3Umm Zaki has a son, Moataz, who is 15 years old. He was supposed to begin 10th grade. Instead, he woke up in the family's tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. Water is more than one kilometer away from the tent. 4The mother of five told Reuters by text message, "Usually, such a day would be a day of celebration, seeing the children in the new uniform, going to school, and dreaming of becoming doctors and engineers. Today all we hope is that the war ends before we lose any of them." 5The Palestinian Education Ministry said all Gaza schools were closed and 90 percent of them had been destroyed or damaged in the war. The war started after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli towns on October 7 killing about 1,200 people. 6The U.N. Palestinian aid agency UNRWA operates about half of Gaza's schools. Many of them are now emergency shelters housing thousands of displaced families. 7UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma told Reuters, "The longer the children stay out of school the more difficult it is for them to catch up on their lost learning." She added that they are then more likely to become "a lost generation." They are at risk for the dangers of "child marriage, child labor, and recruitment into armed groups." 8The education ministry said there are already 625,000 Gazans registered for school who would be missing classes. Another 58,000 six year olds should have registered to start first grade this year. 9Last month, the UNRWA started a back-to-learning program in 45 of its shelters. Teachers set up games, drama, arts, music and sports activities to help with children's mental health. 10Order to evacuate 11Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes at least once. Some have had to flee 10 times. 12In the latest evacuation order, Israel told residents of an area in the northern Gaza Strip that they must leave their homes. Rockets had been fired from there into southern Israel the day before. 13The United Nations urged Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to attend medical centers to get children under the age of 10 years old vaccinated against polio. There have been breaks in the fighting to permit a vaccination campaign. The U.N. hopes to vaccinate 640,000 children in Gaza. The territory's first polio case in around 25 years was recently reported. 14U.N. officials said the campaign in the southern and central Gaza Strip had so far reached more than half of the children there needing the vaccine. Four weeks later, the children must get a second vaccination to complete the treatment. 15Touma, the U.N. official, said 450,000 of the children targeted by the campaign had been vaccinated. 16I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 17Nidal al-Mughrabi reported this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 18____________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20uniform -n. clothing that is just like clothing worn by others at a school or in some kinds of jobs 21recruit - v. to persuade (someone) to join you in some activity or to help you 22drama - n. the art or activity of performing a role in a play 23evacuate - n. to leave (a dangerous place) 24What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section.