Since the beginning of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, nearly 90 percent of school buildings were destroyed leaving more than 600 thousand students with no school or access to education. Schools in the Gaza Strip have been beyond mere educational institutions. In times of war, they are repurposed as refugee shelters equipped with additional power, sanitation and generator facilities. These “safe" sites, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), are being systematically destructed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the aggression. Given its role as a mediator in this deepening war, an advocate for an immediate ceasefire and a humanitarian aid provider, Qatar plays an important role in the education crisis of this densely populated Palestinian territory.
To aid Palestinian children who were left without schools or hope for a better future, Shaikha Moza bint Nasser Al Misned launched the Al Fakhoora campaign in 2009, one of many projects of the Education Above All Foundation(EAA). The aim of this humanitarian campaign is “to promote the right to education in conflict and post-conflict regions". The name came from a school in the Jabaliya refugee camp, where many families took refuge during the 2008 Gaza Massacre and 200 displaced Palestinians were killed in a single attack. The Al Fakhoora campaign encompasses many initiatives falling under humanitarian aid which include rebuilding destructed schools, granting scholarships, providing disabled students with vocational training, and working on the physiological and social aftermath of the war.
The Al Fakhoora Campaign launched a number of projects since 2009 in aid of education in Gaza. One of these projects, in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme, was “The Qatar Scholarship Project" (QSP) which, in the duration of 13 years (2009- 2022), provided access to higher quality education, student services and extensive civic engagements programs. Earlier this year, EEA and Qatar's General Directorate of Endowments (Awqaf) honored a number of scholarship recipients of QSP as high-achievers who exhibited academic excellence during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Following yet another Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, Al Fakhoora launched another project, the “Right to Education Program", in February 2015 to support the recovery of the educational sector in Gaza by reconstructing and rehabilitating what was destroyed during the war. Amongst other achievements, this project was able to rebuild and refurnish completely damaged schools, rehabilitate private and public schools, add additional classrooms, build multi-purpose halls to be used for emergency shelters, rehabilitate five training centers, and recover around 30 higher education institutions.
Since the beginning of the ongoing war on Gaza, more than 500 schools were either directly or indirectly hit leaving more than 600 thousand students out of school. Gaza's education system had been already struggling after several wars since 2008. Talal al-Hathal, director of the Al Fakhoora Campaign, stated to Al Jazeera that Israeli attacks on educational institutions in Gaza have not only “disrupted immediate educational activities but also eroded the foundation for sustained societal growth and development." The current war on Gaza is unprecedented in many respects. Gaza has never witnessed a war that reached this magnitude of destruction and duration. In addition to the destruction of the buildings, students and teachers have also been killed during the war which resulted in a vanishing educational infrastructure and mental trauma to thousands of students who were left alive. In the current unlivable situation of Gaza, education is now considered a luxury rather than a need. With a population struggling to seek shelter, find food and simply stay alive, providing educational resources for the time being is not a priority for ordinary Gazans. Even if it were, without proper electricity, stable internet connection and technology, providing online classes too is close to impossible. Although many teachers run “classes" in tents, this too is neither practical nor safe.
With negotiation efforts being refused by Israel and with the risk of further spread of conflict, the collateral damage of this war, including failed educational systems, are bound to increase. The future of the students remains unclear as of now, and estimating the time and effort needed to rehabilitate the education system and the psychologically wounded students in Gaza is impossible.