ANKARA 

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported on Friday that over 625,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been deprived of education since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the besieged enclave on Oct. 7, 2023.

In a statement, UNRWA said: “More than 625,000 children in Gaza have been out of school for over 8 months – 300,000 of them were UNRWA students before the war.”

The UN agency added: “Play and learning activities provided by UNRWA teams are critical in preparing children to get back to school and restore their right to education.”

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi