Gaza children attend first official school day

Gaza’s children returned to classrooms on Monday for the first officially scheduled school day since the cease‑fire that ended the latest round of hostilities in the region. The Ministry of Education, in coordination with United Nations agencies and local NGOs, reopened 112 of the 150 schools that had been damaged or used as shelters during the conflict, allowing roughly 85,000 pupils to resume their studies under temporary structures and repaired facilities.

Officials said the reopening follows extensive safety assessments, the removal of unexploded ordnance, and the provision of emergency learning kits, water, and electricity to the affected sites. International partners, including UNICEF and the World Food Programme, are supplying psychosocial support and nutritional meals to help mitigate the trauma experienced by students and staff. The education authorities emphasized that the return to school is a priority for community stability and that further repairs will continue to restore full capacity in the coming weeks.