Background
Before Israel launched its genocidal campaign in 2023, the Gaza Strip contained 796 schools and 12 higher education institutions, as well as numerous libraries, archives, bookstores, museums, and publishing houses. Gaza boasted one of the lowest illiteracy rates in the world (1.8%), and more than one-third of its population consisted of school and university students. Since October 2023, Israel has targeted Gaza’s education sector and cultural institutions in a systematic fashion, building on the scholasticidal precedents it had set during its 2008 and 2014 assaults on the besieged enclave.
October 2023
October 9 – The Israeli military commences its assault on Gaza’s education sector by leveling the Islamic University of Gaza’s library.
October 10 – The Israeli military bombs the iconic Samir Mansour Bookshop and Library, which it had previously reduced to rubble during its 2021 assault on Gaza.
October 11 – Israel extensively bombs the Gaza campus of the Islamic University of Gaza, destroying its mosque and most of its main buildings. It additionally begins its attacks on Al-Azhar University.
Mid-October – Israeli air strikes on Al Nuseirat refugee camp kill Al-Shaima Akram Saidam, the top student in Palestine’s high school examination in 2023, as well as members of her family.
October 18 – It is reported that Al-Qarara Museum, also known as the Khan Younis Museum, has been destroyed by Israeli bombing. Established in 2016, the museum featured approximately 3,000 artifacts reaching back to the Canaanite period.
October 19 – The University College of Applied Sciences is bombed by Israeli forces. On the same day, the fifth-century Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and the neighboring Katib al-Wilaya Mosque are damaged by Israeli bombardment.
October 23 – Israeli forces arrest Imad Barghouti, a prominent astrophysicist and professor of physics at Al-Quds University in the West Bank, for unspecified reasons. After abducting Barghouti under threat of home demolition, Israel imprisoned him without charge or trial.
November 2023
Early November – Al-Aqsa University is damaged by Israeli bombing. Videos circulate on social media showing Israeli forces additionally bombing Al-Azhar University, with media sources reporting that its campus has been wholly or partly destroyed.
November 8 – Israeli soldiers raid Birzeit University in the West Bank, shooting and severely wounding a young Palestinian man in the process.
November 9 – Israel bombs the Al-Buraq school in Gaza’s Al-Nasr neighborhood, killing at least 25 sheltering Palestinians and injuring dozens of others.
November 15 – The Gaza branch building of Al-Quds Open University is destroyed by Israeli bombing. Days later, the university issues a statement condemning Israel’s “relentless” attacks on the building as well as its previous use of it as a military barracks.
November 15 – Israel bombs the Ihya al-Sunna Mosque in Gaza’s Sabra neighborhood during evening prayers, killing at least 109 Palestinians and injuring more than 70 others.
Mid-November – Israeli forces perform controlled demolitions of two schools in Beit Hanoun: the Beit Hanoun preparatory girls “B” school, and the neighboring Beit Hanoun elementary co-educational “C” school. The schools had together served 2,400 students.
November 17 – Israeli forces attack the UN-run Al-Falah/Zeitoun preparatory elementary school, killing at least 20 displaced Palestinians.
November 18 – Israel bombs the UN-run Al-Fakhoura school in Tal al-Zaatar, killing at least 50 sheltering Palestinians and injuring many others.
November 24 – Israeli forces bomb the Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center for the second time in less than two weeks and destroy its entrance with bulldozers.
November 25 – The Diana Tamari Sabbagh Library, home to tens of thousands of books, is demolished by Israeli shelling while serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
November 29 – Local authorities report that Israel has destroyed Gaza City’s Central Archives, containing thousands of historical documents spanning more than 150 years. A UN investigation later concludes that “the interior of the building was likely set ablaze” by Israeli forces.
November 30 – 15 Palestinian higher education institutions from Gaza and the West Bank publish “A Unified Call for Justice and Freedom in Palestine.” The letter urges academic institutions around the world to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, to advocate for the immediate entry of humanitarian aid, to issue clear positions against ethnic cleansing, and to support Palestinians in dismantling Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. The statement additionally emphasizes the complicity of Israeli universities in the Israeli state’s crimes and the necessity of subjecting these universities to global isolation.
December 2023
December 4 – Gaza University is bombed and appears to have been completely destroyed.
December 6 – Six scholarly institutions in Gaza City are reported to have been destroyed, including Enaim Library, Kana’an Educational Development Institute and its community library, Lubbud Library, Al-Nahda Library, Al-Shorouq Al-Daem Library, Al-Quds Open University Library.
December 7 – The Othman bin Qashar Mosque in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood is destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.
December 7 – Israeli forces undertake controlled demolitions of the Faculty of Arts and Human sciences building and the Al-Riyadh Auditorium building at Al-Azhar University’s Al-Mughraqa campus. The campus had previously been targeted on two other occasions. Images and videos reveal Israeli soldiers dancing onsite at the time of the demolitions.
December 8 – The 7th-century Omari Mosque is destroyed. The mosque’s library is destroyed as well, which housed one of Palestine’s most significant collections of rare books, some dating to before the 14th century.
Mid-December – UNICEF reports that 352 of Gaza’s school buildings have been damaged, that more than 70% of Gaza’s education infrastructure has been adversely affected by Israel’s campaign, and that at least 209 teachers have been killed. A UNICEF spokesperson tells The Guardian that “There is absolutely no form of education or schooling in the Gaza Strip at the moment.”
December 15 – Israel bombs the Haifa school in Khan Yunis, killing at least 20 sheltering Palestinians.
December 18 – Scholars at Risk (SAR) issues a call to action regarding the impact of Israel’s campaign on academia in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank. Among other things, the statement notes that education at all levels has been halted in Gaza, while higher education in the West Bank has been moved online following increased Israeli violence and travel restrictions.
Late December – An Israeli airstrike hits Al-Aqsa University, killing 20 Palestinians who had been sheltering inside it.
January 2024
Early January – Self-recorded video footage emerges of an Israeli soldier standing among the ruins of Al-Azhar University and saying, “For all those asking why there is no education in Gaza … Oops. We’ve had a missile fall on them. That sucks. Too bad. That’s how you’ll never be engineers anymore.” A caption to the posted video reads: “In the university of terrorists.”
January 14 – Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces damaged the Monastery of Saint Hilarion, a 4th-century site that would later be added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
January 15 – Israeli soldiers raid Al-Najah National University in the West Bank, arresting 25 students who had been participating in a sit-in.
January 16 – Israeli soldiers arrest 45 students at Birzeit University in the West Bank, raising the total number of arrested Birzeit students to more than 125.
January 17 – Video footage emerges of Israeli forces detonating 315 mines to destroy the remaining buildings of Al-Israa University’s Al-Zahara campus, Gaza’s last standing university campus. Israeli soldiers had previously occupied the campus and used it as a military base for 70 days. Al-Israa University had been home to Gaza’s first national museum, containing over 3,000 artifacts, which Israeli forces looted before the demolition.
January 20 – Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports that 94 university professors in Gaza have been killed and that every university in Gaza has been at least partially destroyed.
January 25 – Middle East Eye publishes footage showing severe damage to the Khan Yunis campus of Al-Aqsa University. Eyewitnesses report that Israeli tanks had stormed the campus and encouraged looting.
Late January – By the end of January, Israel’s offensive has caused $341 million in damage to Gaza’s education infrastructure, including schools and university buildings.
February 2024
Early February – Israeli forces destroy two Al-Aqsa University buildings in Gaza City.
Mid-February – By February 20, Israeli forces have killed more than than 5,200 students and injured at least 8,700 more, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education.
February 29 – Al Jazeera reports that Doaa Qudaih, a Palestinian teacher, has started an initiative to teach children English in tents.
March 2024
March 27 – The Palestinian Ministry of Education reports that Israel has killed nearly 6,000 school students and wounded 10,000 others in Gaza, in addition to killing 55 students and wounding 329 more in the West Bank. Its statement also notes that 286 government schools and 65 UNRWA schools in Gaza have been bombed or vandalized, leaving 40 schools completely destroyed.
April 2024
April 2 – Researchers from Harvard University and other institutions publish a study revealing that “more than half of healthcare, education, and water facilities” were damaged by Israeli attacks between October 7 and November 22, 2023. The study’s lead author notes that these facilities “were not damaged in a random pattern, but rather that damage was highly clustered on these facilities.”
April 18 – A group of UN experts issue a statement voicing explicit concern regarding Israel’s “scholasticide” in Gaza. The statement notes that more than 80% of Gaza’s schools have been destroyed or damaged, along with at least 60% of its educational facilities. “It may be reasonable to ask,” the authors write, “if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system.”
April 18 – Israeli police arrest, detain, and abuse Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a Palestinian professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for comments she had made on a podcast more than a month earlier.
May 2024
Early May – By May 2, more than 1,600 international academics have signed a petition denouncing Israel’s scholasticide in Gaza. By May 3, 88% of Gaza’s school buildings have sustained some level of damage, with 54% of them suffering direct hits.
May 6 – Adalah reports that over 160 Palestinian students in Israeli universities have faced disciplinary action since October 7, 2023, frequently for social media posts.
May 6 – Al-Mayadeen reports that Tamer Abu Moussa, a graduate student at Gaza’s destroyed Al-Azhar University, has successfully defended his master’s thesis remotely while sheltering in a tent.
May 16 – Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor publishes a report entitled “Israeli army’s destruction of more schools, health centres in Gaza is additional manifestation of genocide.”
Mid-May – A video circulates of an Israeli soldier filming the ruins of Al-Azhar University and celebrating its destruction. He says the following as he films: “We are at a university in Gaza. If you want to sign up, if you want to learn, I think they’re closed for construction. Yes, they’re closed for construction. How beautiful. Another angle of the ruins. … [Do] you want to sign up? We’re starting a new semester. It’ll start never.”
Late May – A photo circulates of Israeli soldiers posing in front of a Palestinian library that has been set ablaze. Footage also emerges of Israeli soldiers burning books in Rafah, including the Qur’an.
May 29 – A group of Palestinian academics and staff at Gaza’s universities publish an open letter calling on “friends and colleagues around the world to resist the ongoing campaign of scholasticide in occupied Palestine, to work alongside us in rebuilding our demolished universities, and to refuse all plans seeking to bypass, erase, or weaken the integrity of our academic institutions.”
June 2024
June 6 – Israel bombs the UN-run Al-Sardi school in Nuseirat camp, killing at least 40 sheltering Palestinians.
June 10 – UNESCO verifies that at least 50 cultural sites in Gaza have been damaged since October 7, including 11 religious sites, 28 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 2 depositories of movable cultural property, 4 monuments, 1 museum and 4 archeological sites.
Mid-June – A UN commission issues a report that condemns numerous instances in which “large scale air strikes and the demolition of buildings by the [Israeli Security Forces] caused the destruction of civilian objects,” including “schools and universities,” without military necessity or defined military objectives.
June 20 – The Palestinian Ministry of Education announces that Israeli military actions have barred approximately 39,000 high school students in Gaza from taking their Tawjihi final exams. It additionally notes that 450 Palestinian high school students have been killed in the past year, 430 of them in Gaza.
June 21 – UNRWA reports that over 76% of schools in Gaza would need reconstructing or require major rehabilitation to be functional again.
July 2024
Early July – The Palestinian Ministry of Education reports that Israel has killed at least 8,572 Palestinian students in Gaza and 100 in the West Bank. The Ministry notes that at least 497 teachers and administrators have been killed as well, along with another 3,402 wounded. UNICEF data would subsequently reveal that 344 school buildings in Gaza had been directly hit by Israeli strikes by July 6.
July 9 – Israel bombs the UN-run Al-Awda school in Abbasan, killing at least 31 sheltering and injuring more than 53 others.
July 18 – Sadiq al-Khadour, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Education, observes in a remote interview that “”Israel has targeted everyone and everything involved in the educational process in Gaza. … We’re not only talking about targeting the people and stones that form and build the educational system, but also targeting everything that facilitates it, including the telecommunication network, electricity and water system.”
July 26 – +972 reports that “despite the damage [wrought by Israel’s campaign], there are still efforts among Palestinians in Gaza to continue teaching and learning,” particularly via remote educational initiatives by Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University.
July 26 – Israel bombs the Khadija school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 30 sheltering Palestinians and injuring many others.
Late July – By July 27, 564 school buildings have been either directly hit or damaged by Israeli attacks, comprising nearly 85% of all school buildings in Gaza. The majority of these buildings have been hit directly.
July 30 – Middle East Eye reports that the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius has been attacked by Israeli forces for the second time.
August 2024
August 4 – Israel bombs the Hamama school in Gaza City, killing at least 17 sheltering Palestinians and injuring many others.
August 6 – The Palestinian Ministry of Education reports that Israeli forces have killed over 9,936 of Gaza’s students, wounded nearly 16,000 others, and prevented 620,000 more from attending school – in addition to killing 107 students and injuring 526 others in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. The Ministry also notes that more than 500 teachers, lecturers, professors, and educational staff have been killed within this timeframe.
August 10 – Israel bombs Gaza City’s Al-Tabin school during morning prayers, killing more than 100 sheltering Palestinians. An Al Jazeera investigation subsequently finds that the attack was “deliberately timed to cause maximum casualties.”
August 21 – An Israeli airstrike targets the Salah al-Din school in Gaza City, killing at least four sheltering Palestinians and wounding 18 others.
August 21 – The Electronic Intifada reports that at least 121 schools in Gaza have been fully destroyed, with 333 others having been severely damaged.
August 25 – Al Jazeera publishes video recordings of Israeli soldiers burning and tearing pages out of the Qur’an in Gaza’s Bani Saleh Mosque, as well as drone footage of Israeli forces bombing and destroying the Grand Mosque in Khan Younis.
August 29 – The Electronic Intifada publishes a testimonial by Huda Skaik, an English student at Gaza’s Islamic University, in which she reflects on the ways that she and her peers are continuing to pursue their education remotely amid Israel’s campaign of destruction.
August 29 – World Vision publishes a report entitled “An Unprecedented Education Crisis in the West Bank,” which details the “unprecedented” levels of violence and educational disruption that Palestinian students have faced since October 2023. Among other things, report notes that more than 60% of schools in the West Bank were either completely or intermittently closed during the January-June 2024 semester, primarily due to Israeli restrictions on movement and violence by soldiers and settlers. The report documents at least 69 attacks or raids on schools during class hours, as well as 2,354 violent incidents affecting teachers and students. This constant state and settler violence has left half of all Palestinian children feeling frightened at school, and has required West Bank schools to conduct frequent safety drills.
September 2024
Early September – By the start of September, at least 69 cultural heritage sites have been damaged in Gaza, including museums, monuments, and religious sites.
Early September – UNRWA launches a digital learning project in its West Bank schools, providing 1,400 tablets to 15 schools, installing interactive boards, and connecting 73 schools in anticipation of the 2024-2025 school year.
September 2 – Al Mezan Center for Human Rights publishes a report entitled “Scholasticide: Israel’s Deliberate and Systematic Destruction of the Palestinian Education System in Gaza.” The report outlines the manner in which, “[as] part of its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has systematically pursued the wholesale destruction of the Palestinian educational system.”
September 9 – UNRWA publishes a report entitled “Education Under Attack: Restoring Learning for Children in Gaza.” Among other things, the report notes that 85% of Gaza’s school buildings have been hit or damaged since the start of Israel’s onslaught and that more than 625,000 students have “lost a year of education and learning” in the process.
September 11 – Israel bombs the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat refugee camp, where an estimated 12,000 displaced Palestinians are sheltering, killing at least 18 people and injuring 44 others. This marks the fifth time that the school-turned-shelter has been targeted by Israeli forces since October 2023.
September 15 – Israeli forces destroy the Ghazi Al-Shawa school in Beit Hanoun, one of the last schools still functioning as a shelter in the area.
September 21 – Israel bombs the Zeitoun School in Gaza City, killing at least 22 sheltering Palestinians and wounding 30 others.
October 2024
October 5 – The Gaza Ministry of Religious Affairs reports that Israeli attacks have destroyed 79% of Gaza’s mosques (814 out of 1,245), all three of Gaza’s churches, and 11 Ministry-run administrative and educational facilities. It also notes that Israeli forces have “deliberately targeted” at least 19 of Gaza’s 60 cemeteries, including by desecrating Palestinian graves and mutilating exhumed Palestinian corpses.
October 15 – Israel bombs the Rufaida al-Aslamia school in Deir al-Balah, killing at least 28 sheltering Palestinians and injuring 54 more.
October 17 – Israel bombs the UN-run Abu Hussein school in Jabalia refugee camp, killing at least 28 sheltering Palestinians and wounding 160 others.
October 19 – Israel bombs the UN-run Asmaa school in Shati camp, killing at least seven sheltering Palestinians.
October 24 – Israel bombs the Al-Shuhada school in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 17 sheltering Palestinians and wounding 42 others.
November 2024
November 4 – Israel notifies the UN of its decision to end ties with UNRWA, banning its operations in Israeli territory and adversely impacting the agency’s educational services.
November 11 – Israel intensely shells the Mahdia al-Shawa school in Beit Hanoun as the World Food Programme is delivering food and water to Palestinians sheltering inside it. After surrounding the area and forcing those taking shelter to leave, Israeli forces intentionally ignite a fire and leave the school in flames.
November 13 – UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warns that recent Israeli legislation barring UNRWA from operating in the country will deprive Gaza’s children of their right to education. “In the absence of a capable public administration or state,” Lazzarini emphasizes, “only UNRWA can deliver education to more than 660,000 girls and boys across Gaza.”
November 15 – Reports indicate that 95% of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed during Israel’s campaign, disrupting education for approximately 660,000 children.
November 16 – Israel bombs the UN-run Abu Assi school in Shati refugee camp, killing at least 10 sheltering Palestinians and wounding 20 more.
December 2024
December 13 – Palestinian corpses are discovered in the Shadia Abu Ghazala School in northern Gaza, where Israeli soldiers perpetrated a massacre in early December.
December 19 – At least 59 Palestinian-run schools in the West Bank, together serving approximately 6,600 students, face partial or full demolition orders or stop-work orders.
January 2025
January 18 – The Guardian reports that “[a]lmost every school building in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed, and none are in operation.”
January 19 – A ceasefire allows essential humanitarian aid, including educational supplies, to enter Gaza.
January 24 – Anera reports that it has established 21 still-active “temporary learning spaces” in Gaza, featuring materials from Anera’s Hayya Naqra literacy kits and employing “dynamic teaching strategies [that allow] children to continue their education, even when everything else seems uncertain.”
February 2025
February 5 – ActionAid (Palestine) reports that, despite the January 19 ceasefire agreement, major obstacles remain to the resumption of educational activity in Gaza. Not only have more than 90% of Gaza’s basic, secondary, and tertiary education facilities been damaged or destroyed by Israel; Palestinian educators face the additional difficulties posed by Israeli “restrictions on the entry of educational supplies,” as well as by the severe trauma and malnourishment afflicting Gaza’s children.
February 10 – Israeli police raid the Palestinian-owned Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem, detaining its owners and confiscating numerous books before ordering its closure. Books with Palestinian titles or Palestinian flags are particularly targeted for confiscation.
February 18 – The World Bank reports that 53% of heritage sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including some of the territory’s most important cultural and religious landmarks, such as Anthedon Harbour, a Roman cemetery, the Pasha Palace museum, and the ancient Samaritan Bathhouse.
February 23 – Gaza’s Ministry of Education launches a “compressed academic year” for 2024-2025, marking the first return to in-person learning since October 2023.
Late February – By February 25, 403 schools in Gaza have suffered direct Israeli hits, in addition to the many others that have sustained indirect damage. 100% of school buildings in the North Gaza Governate have been directly hit or damaged, along with 92.8% of those in the Gaza Governate.
March 2025
March 1 – Despite the improved conditions produced by the January 19 ceasefire, Gaza’s educators face ongoing difficulties in reestablishing an effective learning environment for their students. Between January 19 and March 1, for example, only 100 out of the estimated 600 special tents needed for the establishment of “temporary learning spaces” have entered Gaza.
March 2 – In direct violation of the January 19 ceasefire agreement, Israel imposes a “total blockade” on Gaza and declares its intention to indefinitely ban all food, water, shelter, and medication from entering the territory.
March 18 – Israel unleashes a devastating aerial assault on Gaza, unilaterally terminating the January 19 ceasefire. Its overnight assault kills at least 404 Palestinians and injures at least 562 more.
Late March – By March 25, 141 schools in the West Bank have been attacked and vandalized by Israeli soldiers and settlers since October 2023. During the same timeframe, at least 96 students and four educational staff have been killed, 611 students and 21 education staff have been injured, and 327 students as well as 172 educational staff have been arrested. Israeli closures, restrictions, and military raids have resulted in the loss of up to half of the 2023-24 school year in some areas of the West Bank.
March 28 – Israeli settlers and soldiers perpetrate a pogrom in the West Bank village of Jinba, in the course of which the village’s school is violently damaged and “completely vandalized.”
Late March – As the 2023-2024 academic year concludes, 286,000 students in Gaza sit for end-of-year examinations and receive certificates for grade progression.
April 2025
April 1 – Drawing on satellite data, the Education Cluster reports that 95.2% of educational facilities in Gaza have sustained damage since October 2023, with 88.5% requiring major rehabilitation or complete reconstruction. The Cluster also notes the existence of a “clear trend” linking direct hits on Gaza’s schools to areas targeted by Israeli displacement orders.
April 3 – Israel bombs the Dar al-Arqam school in Gaza City, killing at least 27 sheltering Palestinians and wounding 100 more.
April 15 – OCHA reports that all 186 governmental schools that were reopened in Gaza following the January 19 ceasefire have been closed for in-person formal education since March, with many of them now serving as shelters. It also reports that the Ministry of Education has indefinitely postponed the Tawjihi (secondary school) exams for Gaza’s 2023-2024 cohort, which had initially been rescheduled to mid-April 2025, in light of “intensive military activity” as well as logistical obstacles posed by Israel’s blockade.
April 29 – OCHA reports that only 140 temporary learning spaces remain operational in Gaza, serving a total of 69,129 students. This marks a major decline from the ceasefire period, during which 570 temporary learning spaces had been established, reaching 249,020 students.
May 2025
May 7 – The UN Satellite Service, UNOSAT, reports that 95.4% of schools in Gaza have sustained damage since October 2023. Of the enclave’s 564 schools, UNOSAT notes, 501 will need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be functional again.
May 26 – Israel bombs the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in Gaza City, setting it ablaze and killing at least 30 Palestinians. Graphic footage circulates online of Palestinians burning alive on the school’s property.
June 2025
June 10 – The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory issues a report detailing a genocidal pattern of Israeli attacks on Palestinian educational, cultural, and religious sites between October 2023 and February 2025. The report finds Israel guilty of the crime of extermination, concluding that Israel’s attacks “have effectively destroyed [Gaza’s] education system, with significant detrimental long-term repercussions for children and youth in Gaza and for the identity of the Palestinian people as a group.” The report additionally emphasizes that Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s education system must be understood as merely “one element on a continuum of harm to educational facilities and personnel [perpetrated by Israel] across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”