GENEVA, May 20, 2025 (WAFA) - Attacks on schools are an assault on children, UN experts said today, condemning the latest attacks on UNRWA schools in Gaza and the storming and forcible closure of UN schools in Jerusalem by Israeli occupation forces.
“These attacks are also an assault on the right to safe education and a blatant violation of international law, all the more in the context of an unlawful occupation,” the experts said.
On 7 May, Israeli forces reportedly struck an UNRWA school sheltering 2,000 displaced Palestinians in Gaza twice in a single day, killing at least 30 civilians, including women and children. Nearly three-quarters of all school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit since October 2023, with around one third of UNRWA schools among them. According to UN satellite-based assessments, 95 per cent of Gaza’s schools have sustained damage, rendering the vast majority unusable.
“This destruction demonstrates the devastating, lasting impact on a generation of Palestinian children’s learning,” the experts said. Their learning has already been cut-off for more than 19 months and once hostilities cease, they will have no schools to return to. Girls are disproportionately affected by such actions and the long-term consequences for girls’ education, health, and empowerment are especially dire. In addition, leaving all the children exposed to armed eviction with irreversible trauma, that takes years of mental and psychosocial support and is inaccessible to them.
At least 300 UN personnel, mostly UNRWA aid workers, have been killed since the escalation began in October 2023.
In East Jerusalem, on 8 May, heavily armed Israeli forces stormed three UNRWA schools in Shu’fat refugee camp while classes were in session, violently evicting over 550 Palestinian children, some as young as six, from their classrooms. One UNRWA staff member was detained, and by the end of the day all six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem had been evacuated.
“Israel has no authority to carry out these actions, when the International Court of Justice has determined that Israel is under an obligation to dismantle its occupation,” the experts said. “In the meantime, it is bound by international humanitarian law, which protects schools against direct attacks, especially as there were no hostilities in the area that would justify an evacuation.”
“As the schools stormed were UN premises, the harassment of staff and forcible removal of children from schools by Israeli soldiers also constitute a breach of the inviolability of UN facilities and violate the right to education,” they said.
"Targeted attacks against civilians and civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes. In the current context, such actions may also amount to collective punishment."
The experts emphasized that Israel’s obligation to end its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is mandatory under international law, rooted in non-derogable norms like the right to self-determination and the ban on acquiring territory by force. Israel is required to withdraw its troops, dismantle its settlements, provide full reparations to Palestinian victims and facilitate the return of displaced people and humanitarian aid and rehabilitation.
“As a UN Member State, Israel must respect international humanitarian and human rights law,” the experts said. “Education is never a target. The international community must act to ensure respect and protection of the right to life and to education of Palestinian children living under occupation and accountability for violations.”
T.R.
