An international report prepared by the University of Cambridge warned of serious risks threatening the future of children in the Gaza Strip, with increasing talk of the emergence of a ‘lost generation’ as a result of Israel’s widespread and systematic destruction of the education system and the accompanying profound psychological, physical and social effects, amid the continuation of Israeli aggression for more than two years.

According to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 1 October 2025, more than 18,000 students and 780 education workers had been killed, while tens of thousands of students and teachers were injured, leading to an unprecedented depletion of both teaching staff and students.

Years of lost education in Gaza

The report noted that children in Gaza have effectively lost the equivalent of five full school years as a result of the repeated closure of educational institutions since 2020, starting with the coronavirus pandemic and continuing with the war, which has led to the almost complete paralysis of the education process. The study emphasised that education is one of the most important factors in protecting children psychologically in conflict zones, and that depriving them of it exacerbates long-term trauma.

Education and malnutrition: a double crisis

The report linked the deterioration of the educational situation to the spread of malnutrition, explaining that the simultaneous collapse of the health and education systems has contributed to undermining children’s ability to continue any educational activity. It considered this a new pattern of warfare that targets the future of generations, not just their present.

The University of Cambridge emphasised that the study is analytical and humanitarian in nature, aiming to alert decision-makers, international bodies and public opinion to the scale of the accumulated disaster threatening an entire generation in Gaza.

Collapsed living conditions and profound psychological effects

The report described the living conditions in the Strip as severely deteriorating, characterised by ongoing violence, food shortages, the collapse of basic services, and the near-total disruption of the education system, along with profound psychological and social effects on children. The study considered that the scale of destruction in Gaza exceeds that witnessed in other recent conflicts in the region and the world.

Israel targeting education: a systematic policy

In the same context, political writer Ezzat Jamal argued that the targeting of education in Gaza was not accidental, but part of a systematic policy aimed at erasing Palestinian memory and identity through the destruction of schools and universities and the assassination of scientific talent. He emphasised that education had been a direct target since the early days of the aggression, given its central place in the structure of Palestinian society.

According to a report by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry published in March 2025, the Israeli occupation destroyed or severely damaged some 2,308 educational facilities in Gaza, equivalent to 95% of educational facilities. UNICEF has also documented the prevention of educational materials from entering the Strip since October 2023, depriving more than 650,000 students of formal education.

An uncertain future in Gaza

The report concludes that the repercussions of the collapse of education in Gaza go beyond the loss of schools and buildings to include the loss of entire school years, the absence of a safe educational environment, and the forced labour of thousands of students to secure their families’ needs, as well as the loss of large numbers of teachers and academics.

The report warns that what is happening constitutes an attempt to ‘destroy education’ as one of the pillars of society’s survival, stressing that the continuation of this situation threatens an uncertain future for an entire generation of Gaza’s children.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

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