RAMALLAH: Thousands of students and teachers have been killed or wounded in Gaza and the West Bank since the start of the Israeli military offensive in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks, amid the widespread destruction of schools and universities.
Figures released on Tuesday by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education reveal the sheer scale of devastation to the education sector in the territories: 18,651 students have been killed and 29,114 injured, the vast majority of them in Gaza, where more than 18,508 died and 28,142 were wounded. In the West Bank, the death toll among students stands at 143, 972 have been injured, and 792 were detained.
The ministry also recorded the deaths of 972 teachers and administrators, and injuries to 4,538. In addition, 199 were detained in the West Bank.
The damage to infrastructure in Gaza has been severe, with 172 government schools and 63 university buildings completely destroyed, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported. A further 118 government schools and more than 100 run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East have been bombed or vandalized, and 25 schools were removed entirely from the education registry. In the West Bank, 152 schools have been vandalized, and eight universities and colleges repeatedly raided.
