After more than two years of war, Palestinian children are hungry, denied education and “like the living dead”

(Press-News.org) More than two years of war in Gaza have left many Palestinian children too weak to learn or play and convinced they will be “killed for being Gazans”, a new report warns. The University of Cambridge-led study also includes the first analysis of education in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 7 October, 2023.

The study says there is an urgent need for more international aid for education across Palestine, whether or not the present ceasefire in Gaza holds. In Gaza itself, it adds, conflict has come close to erasing children’s right to education, and with it, their very identity.

The report, which follows a similar study in 2024, provides a thorough analysis of how war in Gaza has devasted children’s lives. Alongside evidence of a shattered school system, it describes how violence, starvation and trauma have eradicated any sense of ‘normal’ childhood.

It describes children collapsing from exhaustion and being told not to play to conserve energy. Until the recent ceasefire, it suggests, many parents and teachers had to choose between maintaining children’s education and survival, with some living on as little as a bowl of lentils a day.

One of the most striking findings is that war has eroded young Palestinians’ hope for the future and belief in the international system. Eyewitnesses spoke of children’s mounting anger and collapsing faith in values such as peace and human rights. “Students are asking about the reality of those rights. They feel they are killed just for being Gazans,” one international organisation staff member told the research team.

Professor Pauline Rose, Director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, University of Cambridge, said: “A year ago we said education was under attack – now children’s lives are on the brink of a complete breakdown.”

“Palestinians have shown extraordinary desire for education during this terrible war but the loss of faith and hope that young people are expressing should be a massive red flag for the international community. We must do more to support them. We cannot wait.”

The study was conducted by researchers at the REAL Centre and the Centre for Lebanese Studies, in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). It draws on data from UN agencies, charities and NGOs, alongside interviews with aid organisation staff, government officials, teachers and students.

It warns that there is a severe risk of a “lost” generation emerging in Gaza, through a combination of the war’s educational, physical and psychological impacts.

As of 1 October 2025, the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 18,069 school students and 780 education staff killed in Gaza and 26,391 students and 3,211 teachers injured. During the fighting, Save the Children estimates that 15 children suffered life-altering injuries every day.

The report found evidence of widespread despair. Teachers recounted parents asking: “Why should I care about education for my kids if I know they will die from famine?” One focus group discussion found that children were “afraid of everything”; another report, cited in the study, described Gazan children feeling “like the living dead”.

The study estimates that children in Gaza will have lost the equivalent of five years’ worth of education due to repeated school closures since 2020, first through COVID-19, and then war. Although temporary and distance learning measures have been implemented by UNRWA and the Palestinian Ministry of Education, these have been impeded by ongoing violence, damaged infrastructure and chronic resource shortages.

The learning loss calculation incorporates the compounding effects of trauma and starvation, using established studies of how these impede learning. As of October 2025, almost 13,000 children in Gaza had been treated for acute malnutrition, 147 of whom died.

Given these same compounding effects, the authors calculate that if schools remain closed until September 2027, many teenagers will be a full decade behind their expected educational level.

The situation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was also found to be dire. Here, 891 students and 28 teachers have been killed or wounded by settlers or Israeli forces since October 2023 and hundreds more arrested, often on grounds that the UN Human Rights Office considers “arbitrary”. Schools have been sporadically closed, or in some cases shut down. The authors estimate that children in these areas have lost a minimum of 2.5 years of education.

Across Palestine, teachers described their profession as demoralised and in crisis. One international organisation staff member said teachers were “working day and night” to ensure children continued to receive some sort of education and that many had not had a day’s leave in two years.

The study calculates that the cost of educational recovery across the whole of Palestine could be US$1.38 billion. Yusuf Sayed, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge said: “Teachers and counsellors are displaying sumood (steadfastness) and commitment to preserving Palestinian identity through education, but the scale of need is immense. Thousands of new teachers will be needed to replace those who have been lost or to support a complete learning recovery. Investing in teachers is crucial to rebuilding and restoring education in Palestine.”

With Gaza experiencing near-total economic paralysis, education will depend on foreign aid for the foreseeable future. Despite this, the study found evidence of “donor fatigue”. Of the US$230.3 million requested by OCHA for education in 2025, only 5.7% had been provided by July, equating to about US$9 per child. An estimated US$1,155 per head is needed for full reconstruction.

Dr Maha Shuayb, Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies, said, “Education and children’s services cannot be an afterthought. They are a vital source of stability and care.”

Amid the gloom, the report identifies some causes for hope. During the ceasefire at the start of 2025, schools reopened with remarkable speed. The Tawjihi exams for high school graduates have also resumed. One teacher described this as “a miracle”.

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