By Joy Odor
Abdullah Abu Shawesh, the Nigeria
Ambassador of the Embassy of the State of Palestine has on Thursday affirmed that the education of 625,000 Palestinian students and 22,564 teachers have been disrupted in Gaza during the 419 days of genocide and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the USA-Israeli.
Shawesh who disclosed this in his address at a press conference in Abuja said almost all school buildings in Gaza have been either entirely or partially destroyed as a result of Israeli air strikes.
According to him, it is not overstating to say everyone in Gaza is traumatised, lamented that the situation in Gaza is Hell and one of the worst and most difficult situations in the world.
“Education is highly valued among families across the State of Palestine, with 95.4 per cent of children enrolled in basic education.
“Education progress on Gaza has been disrupted over years notably since 2007 the start of the blockade, and that has been compounded by COVD19 effects.
“As of November 27, 44,249 Palestinians were martyred and 104,746 were injured in Gaza, with the vast majority being children and women, while thousands of victims were still trapped under the rubble.
“Alongside many other war crimes and crimes against humanity, it became very clear that Israel troops are using the Palestinian civilians as human shields in the occupied.
“Palestinian territories “An investigation by The New York Times found that Israeli soldiers and intelligence agents, throughout the war in Gaza, have regularly forced captured Palestinians to conduct life-threatening reconnaissance missions to avoid putting Israeli soldiers at risk on the battlefield.
“In this connection the CNN report stressed “But one day this spring, the soldier said an intelligence officer showed up with two Palestinian detainees a 16-year-old boy and 20-year-old man and told the troops to use them as human shields before entering buildings.
“UNICEF reported that 64 attacks against schools have been recorded last October (2024).
“Between 6 October 2024 and 17 November 2024, Israeli military operations have impacted six UNRWA installations in Gaza City and 17 in North Gaza.
“84% of the health facilities in Gaza are out of service and have been completely destroyed, while the remaining percentage is partially functioning.
This act of collective punishment is being practiced in Gaza.
“In Gaza, 79% of the Gaza Strip is under Israeli evacuation orders, as of 17 November 2024, 90% of the population are internally displaced, with more than 415,000 displaced people seeking shelter in over 100 UNRWA school buildings. Some individuals have been displaced up to 10 times and 247 UNRWA staff have been killed.
“More than a million children in the Gaza Strip are caught in a devastating situation marked by widespread destruction, relentless attacks, displacement, and severe shortages of essential necessities such as food, water, and medicine.”
“The intentional Israeli strikes destroyed more than 188 archaeological and historical sites in Gaza, including Churches and mosques.
“Additionally, they deliberately targeted many museums that contain numerous artifacts” he ended.
