RAMALLAH, September 7, 2026 (WAFA) – The Palestinian NGO Network called on the international community to exert immediate pressure on the Israeli occupation to halt its systematic violations against the education sector in the occupied Palestinian Territory, ensure students and teachers can reach their schools, and cease targeting educational institutions.
In a statement issued today, Monday, the Network said that the start of the 2026/2027 academic year coincides with an escalation in Israeli occupation measures and an expansion of colonists’ attacks across the occupied Palestinian Territory. It pointed to Israeli occupation forces’ raids on several villages and towns, obstruction of students’ access to their schools, and raids on schools on the first day of the academic year, as occurred in Huwwara and Burqa in Nablus Governorate.
It added that Israeli occupation forces ordered teachers at one school to remove the Palestinian flag from the school’s flagpole, as part of measures targeting national symbols and Palestinian identity within educational institutions.
The Network noted that 10 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in camps in the northern West Bank, including Nur Shams, Tulkarm, and Jenin, remain closed. Meanwhile, the siege of Qusra town and the prevention of students from reaching their schools continue, alongside other violations affecting the education sector.
The Network warned of the risk of the education process collapsing in the Gaza Strip as the scheduled start of the academic year on September 16 approaches, amid a severe shortage of classrooms, educational facilities, and teachers caused by the widespread destruction of schools, universities, and other educational institutions.
It explained that current plans include operating around 700 in-person learning points, in addition to 25 temporary schools, while more than 541,000 students in the Gaza Strip face shortages of classrooms and teachers, as well as difficulties reaching learning sites due to the siege and Israeli measures.
It affirmed that the education sector, like other sectors in the Gaza Strip, has been subjected to widespread destruction targeting schools, universities, and educational facilities, threatening the right to education of hundreds of thousands of students.
The Network called on the international community to continue the international campaign to save schools and rehabilitate those that can be restored, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as well as to protect UNRWA schools in the northern West Bank and address Israeli violations in accordance with international law, which obliges the occupying power to respect the right to education as a fundamental right that must not be violated.
It described the targeting of education and the prevention of students from reaching their schools as an extension of the violations and crimes against the Palestinian people and an attempt to impose a reality based on depriving generations of education, alongside colonists’ attacks, in a manner that serves policies aimed at pushing Palestinians to leave and entrenching the existing reality.
In this context, the Network reiterated its categorical rejection of any interference in the Palestinian educational curriculum, warning against attempts to distort history and interfere with Palestinian national identity.
It stressed the importance of protecting the Palestinian narrative, fostering a sense of national belonging among generations, and confronting forms of colonial intervention in the national identity of the Palestinian people, considering education one of the key areas targeted by policies of domination and control over public consciousness.
It called for continued adherence to a unifying language, preservation of the Palestinian people’s cultural heritage and heritage space, and strengthening the presence of national identity in the educational process.
Amid the challenging economic climate—and the recent decision to reduce instructional days in public schools—the Network highlighted the necessity of defending teachers' union and financial rights. Simultaneously, it reaffirmed that the student's right to education must be preserved to guarantee learning continuity.
It noted that more than 846,000 students and around 54,000 teachers returned to their schools at the start of the academic year. The Network described this milestone as a “message of hope and life for the Palestinian people,” a direct challenge to the Israeli occupation, and proof that the will of a people cannot be broken.
T.R.
