Attachments
The ongoing war in the Gaza Strip has brought the education sector to a near halt, with devastating consequences for students, teachers, and families. The destruction of schools, displacement, and trauma have created a humanitarian crisis that demands urgent action. In West Bank, since 7 October 2023, the post-escalation landscape has been characterized by heightened volatility, with widespread systemic inequities and conflict related barriers and military operations compounding the crisis. The level of intensity and brutality continues to rise which imposed additional challenges to access safe education in many areas of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
On 21 January 2025, the Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank began in Jenin and marked the longest operation in the West Bank since the early 2000s. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, which have become almost deserted. These escalating operations in the West Bank have severely disrupted schooling, endangered children’s well-being and have resulted in displacement, school closures and demolitions, destruction of infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, shortages of educational resources and psychological trauma for thousands of students and teachers. In addition, a total of 849 Israeli movement obstacles are placed throughout the West Bank affecting children and teachers safe access to schools.
Barriers to access to education include shortages of school supplies, road impediments and the lack of public transportation. In Jenin area, while some displaced children living in rented accommodation have been able to register at the governmental school, others are still not going to school, both for lack of space and unwillingness to join the governmental system. Children who were following online classes, reported severe impediments due to the lack of sufficient phones and computers, unstable and costly internet connection.
Recently, on 8 April 2025, Israeli authorities issued closure orders, effective in 30 days, for six UNRWA-run schools in East Jerusalem. This decision will immediately affect approximately 800 Palestinian students—girls and boys—who attend these schools and are likely to miss finishing this school year. It also sets a dangerous precedent that places the educational future of tens of thousands of Palestinian refugee children across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) at risk.
There are over 47,000 Palestinian refugee children enrolled in 96 UNRWA schools in the West Bank, many of them residing in camps and other vulnerable settings. With UNRWA schools already serving as a protective space and a vital service amid protracted crises, any threat to their continuity compounds the challenges children and families already faced, adding uncertainty, instability, and fear to their daily lives. For Palestinian refugee children, particularly those growing up in displacement in refugee camps across the West Bank, education provides a lifeline: a sense of stability, protection, and hope in the face of ongoing insecurity and hardship. The fear that similar closures could expand to other UNRWA schools in the West Bank and beyond raises serious concerns about the erosion of access to education for an entire generation of children. It will not only disrupt children’s learning but also undermine their wellbeing, development, and long-term prospects.
The Education Cluster underscores that the closure and demolition of schools pose an acute threat to the right to education and jeopardize the role of education in fostering dignity, resilience, and hope.
As such, the Education Cluster calls for:
• Advocacy – An immediate and unified stance from the international community, humanitarian and development actors, and regional partners to publicly oppose the closure of schools and the disruption of the learning process and defend every child’s right to education.
• Immediate Action – Swift measures to ensure that children affected by the closure and demolition of schools do not face interruption in learning. This includes logistical, technical, and psychosocial support to affected students, educators, and schools, while safeguarding safe school environments and preventing any gap in service delivery.
• Sustained Support – Clear and vocal support for the continuation of UNRWA’s educational services in East Jerusalem and across OPt, in addition to reinforced financial and political commitment to UNRWA to ensure it can continue to carry out its mandate to educate and protect Palestinian refugee children. Donors, partners, and agencies are urged to coordinate closely to sustain education services and invest in long-term learning continuity across the oPt.
NOW more than ever, children must not be the victims of political decisions. Rebuilding the education system, addressing the psychological needs of students, and ensuring access to learning are vital steps to mitigate the long-term impact of the conflict on children and their future. The Education Cluster reiterates that protecting children’s right to education is a collective moral responsibility—one that cannot be delayed, diverted, or diminished.