DaysofPal—Human Rights Watch (HRW) revealed a damning new report released on Thursday that Israeli forces have bombed more than 500 schools across the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023.
The organization described the destruction as a systematic attack on Gaza’s educational infrastructure, warning of long-term consequences for children and civilian life.
According to the report, many of the targeted schools were being used as temporary shelters by displaced civilians.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people and rendered most of the schools severely damaged or destroyed, leaving thousands of children without safe spaces to learn or seek refuge.
Human Rights Watch warned that the devastation could cripple Gaza’s education system for years to come, citing the enormous resources and time needed to reconstruct the buildings and restore a semblance of normalcy.
“The continued destruction of educational infrastructure is worsening the humanitarian crisis and stripping future generations of their right to education,” the organization said.
“This is a clear and grave violation of international humanitarian law.” It added.
In response to these findings, the HRW called for an immediate arms embargo on the Israeli occupation and urged international actors to take concrete steps to enforce the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Since the war began, the Israeli occupation, with ongoing US support, has carried out a campaign that many international observers and legal experts now describe as genocidal.
This includes widespread killings, forced displacement, the destruction of homes and essential infrastructure, and the deliberate starvation of civilians, actions that have continued despite global condemnation and legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice to halt the assault.
The ongoing Israeli genocide has resulted in the deaths of 61,158 Palestinians and injuries to more than 151,442 others, the vast majority of whom are women and children.
Over 9,000 people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced under siege conditions, where the man-made famine engineered by the Israeli occupation has claimed countless additional lives, with Gaza’s population pushed to the brink of survival.
As the war enters its eleventh month, international pressure is mounting, but aid agencies warn that without urgent intervention, Gaza’s civilian population, especially children, will continue to pay the highest price.
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