War in Gaza puts youth education at risk, up to 5 years lost – UNRWA

A report by academics working with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA has revealed that the war in Gaza could set the youth’s education back by up to five years.

Since Israel’s air and ground raids on the enclave began nearly one year ago, more than 80 percent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed.

“The most optimistic prediction – assuming an immediate ceasefire and rapid international effort to rebuild the education system – is that students will lose two years of learning,” said UNRWA in a summary of the report. “If the fighting continues until 2026, the losses could stretch to five years.

“This does not account for the additional effects of trauma, famine and forcible displacement, all of which are deepening Gaza’s education crisis.”

Despite international calls for a temporary cease-fire, Israeli airstrikes continued to target Lebanon on Thursday, claiming the lives of an entire family.

According to the official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), the previous night saw the most intense Israeli bombardment in and around the city of Baalbek, located in eastern Lebanon.

In the town of Chaat, an airstrike destroyed a home, killing an entire family, though the agency did not provide the exact number of victims.

Additionally, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that three people were killed in Israeli strikes on the village of Ayta al-Shaab, while a fourth victim, a Syrian national, died in an airstrike on the town of Qana, both in southern Lebanon.