UNICEF warns: A third school year without education and 85% of schools are destroyed.

The regional director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for the Middle East and North Africa, Edward Peigbeder, warned of the danger of losing an entire generation of children in Gaza, as the educational process has been halted for the third consecutive year, and the educational infrastructure in the sector has been almost completely destroyed.

Peigbeder said in an interview with Agence France-Presse following his visit to Gaza: "Three years have passed without actual education for children. If we do not begin a real transition to education next February, we will enter a fourth year without schools... and then we can talk about a lost generation."

He added that the devastating war launched by the Israeli occupation on the sector "has turned large parts of Gaza into rubble, displaced the vast majority of the population, and almost completely hindered public services."

He continued: "It is impossible to imagine that 80 percent of the area of the sector has been leveled or completely destroyed."

Peigbeder pointed out that the truce that came into effect in October, mediated by the United States, allowed UNICEF and its partners to establish temporary education centers that managed to accommodate about one-sixth of the number of children who are supposed to be in schools.

He explained that "children receive only three days of education per week in reading, math, and writing, but this is far from the concept of formal education."

These centers, according to Peigbeder, are set up inside damaged schools or near displacement camps, and often consist of metal structures covered with plastic sheets or simple tents, where children sit on mats or wooden boxes, writing on broken boards or plastic pieces.

Despite the truce, the UN official confirms that the education situation in Gaza is "catastrophic," as 85 percent of schools have been destroyed or disrupted.

The few buildings that still stand are being used as shelters for the displaced, making education nearly impossible.

He added that "80 schools out of 300 belonging to the Palestinian Authority need repairs, 142 schools have been completely destroyed, and 38 others have become inaccessible due to the presence of Israeli forces around them."

Last October, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced the launch of a "new electronic school year" targeting about 290,000 students, in an attempt to overcome the harsh field reality.

However, the United States, through its Secretary of State Marco Rubio, strongly attacked the agency, describing it as "affiliated with Hamas," asserting that it "will have no role in the post-war phase."

Peigbeder believes that restoring education to the children of Gaza is an existential necessity no less important than food aid, saying: "Food is survival... education is hope."

He pointed out that the priority now is to obtain permits to bring in construction materials and educational supplies through the crossings, to establish semi-permanent schools, after these materials were banned on the grounds that they are "not essential."

He explained that the Israeli blockade during the war exacerbated the humanitarian crisis to the point of famine, according to United Nations reports, while the World Health Organization confirmed that the situation has not seen any significant improvement since the start of the truce, and hunger levels remain high.

Peigbeder concluded by saying: "How can classrooms be rehabilitated without cement? We need notebooks, books, and writing boards... the minimum components of education. Without that, there will be no future for the children of Gaza."