Most of Gaza's schools are destroyed and hundreds of thousands of children cannot go back to class

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Bissan Younis looked dejected as she stood outside a cluster of tents surrounded by rubble and debris, a wasteland that is a common sight across the Gaza Strip. The tiny encampment was yet another makeshift school that has no room for her teenage son Kareem.

“Most of the schools are destroyed," she told The Associated Press. "Every school I go to tells me there is no room.”

More than 600,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have missed the past two years of school because of the war between Israel and the militant Hamas group. Instead of studying and socializing, they have been repeatedly displaced, fled airstrikes and shelling and often spent their days scouring for water and food for their families.

With a ceasefire reached last month largely holding, humanitarian officials are now working frantically to reopen dozens of makeshift schools.

John Crickx, a spokesman for the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said it's critical for children to return to classes as soon as possible, not just because of basic education but also for their mental health.

“In the weeks to come, if we don’t offer education,” he said, there could be “terrible consequences for an entire generation.”

UNICEF estimates that over 630,000 Palestinian children missed out on school during the war. Crickx says that so far, only about 100,000 children have been able to return.

Separately, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is providing some education through their contracted teachers — for about 40,000 students. Most of the UNRWA-run schools, which catered to half of the Gaza children before the war, have since turned into shelters for displaced people.

Lack of space is a key obstacle: Dozens of schools were badly damaged or completely destroyed. Many are still being used as shelters for Palestinians who have been repeatedly displaced during the enclave's intense bombardment.

“It’s basically tents among the displaced people’s tents or it is some prefabs or shelters, said Crickx. “It’s very much ... the most basic learning.”

At one school — a cluster of tents with the UNICEF logo erected on a patch of land amid bombed-out buildings in the southern city of Khan Younis — children huddled closely in one classroom, eagerly listening to their teacher.

Crickx said that finding a location to put up the tents has been tricky. Another challenge is getting supplies into Gaza, whether concrete to fix damaged schools or simple pencils, erasers and other basic supplies.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023 start of the war with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, these items have not been allowed into Gaza. Israel, which controls the flow of goods into the territory, considers them “non-critical, non-life saving,” Crickx said.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that coordinates aid to Gaza, had no immediate comment on allowing in school supplies to Gaza.

Even the children who return to makeshift schools were able to enroll carry the psychological burdens that come with war and displacement.

“The level of trauma among the people of Gaza, including children, is horrific,” said UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma.

U.N. agencies say they are struggling to asses the damages and figure out the costs — with the ceasefire still in its early stages, reconstruction of Gaza has not yet begun and U.N. experts say the process could take years and cost some $70 billion.

Displaced families continue to live in the ruins of damaged schools. UNRWA's Touma says about 75,000 people still shelter in the agency's schools.

One of the displaced, Tahreer al-Oweini says she feels guilty but that she had no choice.

“I live in a classroom that should be in session with a teacher, students, and a blackboard,” said al-Oweini. Around her, damaged walls and ceilings are covered with tarp.

Al-Oweini said she is struggling to secure spots for her three daughters and a son who are in elementary and middle school. She even told one school principal that she will search for a chair and desk for her daughter but was still rejected.

“The children forgot everything they learned," she said. "Their life over the past two years has been getting water, running after aid vehicles, war, Hamas, shelling, destruction.”

“They have lived in fear or horror,” she added.

Even during the most intense fighting, there have been some efforts in displacement camps and communities to keep children from falling behind in school, even as everyone struggled with bombardment, power cuts, and shortages of food, water, and medicine.

But lessons were sporadic, and some families say they kept their children close and couldn't risk letting them attend classes, fearing for their lives.

It's a race against time and UNRWA's Touma warns of a “lost generation” — the longer the children stay out of school, the tougher it will be to someday catch up with their peers elsewhere.

Touma is worried that if children miss out on education, the more likely they are to fall "prey to exploitation, including child marriage, child labor, and recruitment into armed groups.”

Al-Oweini, like other families desperate to get their children back to school, is still hopeful.

“I want my children to be like their father who finished university," she said, adding that her daughters want to become doctors or engineers.

“They have ambition,” she said. “But if they don’t go to school, they will have no future.”

Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press videographers Mohammed Jahjouh and Abdel Kareem Hanna in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, and writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Palestinian students attend class inside a tent set up on the beach in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian high school students return to class weeks after a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Hamas, at the Kamilia School in the Old City of Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehand Alshrafi)

Students attend a morning assembly at a school set up on the beach in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian students attend class inside a tent set up on the beach in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

MILAN (AP) — The United States is looking to do something no nation has ever done: Clean sweep the ice hockey tournaments at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Standing in the way? Canada again.

Just like in the men’s and women’s tournaments at the Olympics, Sunday’s gold medal match in Para ice hockey will be between the U.S. and Canada.

“We got to do our part, right? So they got the two done, so now it’s our job and we just got to bring it home for them,” U.S. forward Kevin McKee told The Associated Press.

Naturally, Canada wants bragging rights in the rivalry and to break American Para hearts.

“It is a source of pride for us just to win, like we believe Canada is THE hockey country and we want to prove that,” Canada forward Adam Dixon said.

Both teams dominated the group stage at the Paralympics, each winning all three of their matches. The U.S. then beat the Czech Republic 6-1 in Friday’s semifinals, when Canada struggled at times before overcoming China 4-2.

Canada Para ice hockey captain Tyler McGregor said the two Olympic losses were not playing on his teammates’ minds.

“No. You know what, we’re going to write our own story,” he said. “We watched both our men’s and women’s team compete here a few weeks ago and they played phenomenal.

“Those were two of the best hockey games I’ve ever seen, but this is our story at the Paralympics and we have a chance to bring home a gold medal for Canada. And what an honor that would be.”

Rather than avenge the Olympic defeats, Canada is driven more to avenge losses to the U.S. in the past two gold-medal matches at the Paralympics. It has also lost to the U.S. in four of the past five world championship finals.

“That kind of fuels us,” forward Liam Hickey said. "We’ve learned from those. They’re a great team and we’ve had a great rivalry for as long as this sport’s been around. So for us it’s another kind of chance for redemption and we’re excited for it.”

If the U.S. achieves the treble, it would be the second straight year it has swept the major tournaments, having won the men’s and women’s world championships and world Para ice hockey championship in 2025.

There is no women’s division at the Paralympics as its classified as an open-gender sport.

U.S. defender Jack Wallace said the group has been talking about the sweep since watching the women’s Olympic final together during a training camp. They were also messaging each other during the men’s final.

Coach David Hoff would prefer his players bury all thoughts of a sweep before Sunday’s final.

“There’s a lot of talk about it,” Hoff admitted. “I think for us it’s really just putting the blinders on and really focusing on what we have to do. Don’t let that outside stuff cloud your preparation or bother you. Sometimes that’s hard to do but I think our guys have really done a good job.”

While the Olympics saw the U.S. men’s team win gold for the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980, it’s a different story at the Paralympics.

The U.S. has triumphed at five of the past six Paralympics and several players are targeting a fourth straight gold medal. Captain Josh Pauls is incredibly aiming for a fifth.

“You’ve got to enjoy the guys you’re playing with,” Pauls said when asked about the team’s secret to success. “We have such a brotherhood, we just enjoy playing the game, we enjoy competing, we enjoy getting better, but also helping the other guy across from us get better.

“And I mean, I am just so glad to play another team other than our guys, because man, our guys are really tough to play.”

AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

United State's Declan Farmer, center, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's first goal during a semifinal hockey match between United States and Czech Republic at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Canada players celebrate after winning a semifinal hockey match between against China at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States players celebrate after winning a semifinal hockey match against Czech Republic at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Canada players celebrate after winning a semifinal hockey match between against China at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United State's Josh Pauls celebrates after scoring a goal during a semifinal hockey match between United States and Czech Republic at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)