The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education has announced that the number of students martyred by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza and the West Bank since the beginning of the aggression on October 7, 2023, has risen to a staggering 20,058, marking one of the darkest chapters in the history of Palestinian education.

According to the Ministry’s statement released Tuesday, over 19,910 students were martyred in the Gaza Strip alone, while 30,097 others were wounded in relentless Israeli bombardments targeting residential areas, schools, and university campuses. In the West Bank, 148 students were killed, 1,042 injured, and 846 detained by occupation forces amid ongoing raids and arrests.

The Ministry further reported that 1,037 teachers and administrators were martyred and 4,740 others injured across Gaza and the West Bank, while 228 educational staff members remain in Israeli prisons. It warned that the Israeli occupation has deliberately sought to obliterate Palestine’s education system — a cornerstone of the nation’s resilience and identity.

The scale of destruction is catastrophic, with 179 government schools in Gaza completely destroyed, 63 university buildings flattened by Israeli airstrikes, and more than 218 schools—including 118 government and over 100 UNRWA institutions—bombed or vandalized.

Entire educational institutions — including 30 schools with all their students and staff — have been erased from official registries.

In the West Bank, Israeli forces demolished Amira Elementary School in Yatta, south of Hebron, and Aqaba Elementary School in Tubas. Moreover, eight universities and colleges were repeatedly stormed and ransacked by occupation troops.

The Ministry condemned Israel’s ongoing crimes as part of a systematic campaign to annihilate the future of the Palestinian people by targeting its children, educators, and learning institutions. “This is not just an attack on schools,” the statement said, “but an assault on the very essence of Palestine’s existence and its right to learn, dream, and rebuild.”

International organizations have been urged to intervene immediately to protect what remains of the education sector in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestinian officials stressed that silence and inaction in the face of these atrocities amount to complicity in genocide.

As Israel continues its war of extermination, the education system — long a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness — now stands as both a victim and a witness to the occupation’s brutality. (ILKHA)