Since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted attacks (including numerous airstrikes) on more than 200 educational facilities, including universities, in the Gaza Strip.

By late March 2024, the United Nations recorded more than 200 Israeli attacks on schools in Gaza, with at least 53 schools totally destroyed. By July 2024, all 19 Gaza universities had suffered severe damage with 80% of university buildings destroyed, 103 academics killed, and 90,000 students enrolled in higher education no longer able to pursue their studies.Ibtisam Mahdi, The decimation of Gaza's academia is ‘impossible to quantify’ +972 magazine 26 July 2024. In June 2024, UNOCHA stated 76% of Gaza's schools required "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation", and in August 2024, UNICEF stated 564, or 85%, of all schools in Gaza had been hit by Israeli attacks. In May 2025, an estimated 95% of school buildings had been damaged or destroyed.

The IDF states it targets schools because Palestinian militants use them for military purposes. Researchers looking into IDF's claims concluded the claims either lacked evidence, or the evidence presented was misleading. When the IDF destroyed the last university in the Gaza Strip, it destroyed it in a controlled explosion.

Attacks

Al-Maghazi UNRWA school

On 17 October 2023, an airstrike conducted by the IDF struck a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The UNRWA reported six people were killed by the airstrike and dozens more were injured, including UNRWA staff. The organization also claims that at least 4,000 people had taken refuge in the schoolAs Israel-Hamas war rages, a school blast shows people in Gaza have nowhere to run Retrieved 19 February 2024 since the start of the Gaza war.

At least five people were killed in an airstrike on the Maghazi Secondary Girls School on 27 December.

Osama bin Zaid School

On 3 November 2023, an air strike by the Israel Defense Forces bombed Osama bin Zaid School in the Al-Saftawi area, located in the northern Gaza Strip, a school belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 20 people were killed in the airstrike and dozens of other civilians were injured, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. The Ministry of Health and UNRWA said that at least 1,000 people have taken refuge in the school since the beginning of the war.

Al-Fakhoora School

On 4 November, a UNRWA spokeswoman confirmed reports that Israel had conducted another airstrike against a UN-run school in the Jabalia refugee camp. According to the Gaza health ministry, the attack on the Al-Fakhoora school killed fifteen and wounded dozens more. Reuters reported having obtained a video of a boy crying in despair: "I was standing here when three bombings happened, I carried a body and another decapitated body with my own hands. God will take my vengeance." According to UNRWA, at least one strike hit the schoolyard, where displaced families had set up their tents. In response to the strike, Al Jazeera remarked Israel was "trying to eliminate all sources of survival for the civilian population to force the evacuation to the southern part of Gaza."

A second airstrike on the school occurred in the early hours of the morning on 18 November. Journalists on the scene reported dead bodies everywhere, suggesting the strike may have been an Israeli message to civilians to flee to the southern Gaza Strip. The second strike killed at least 50 people. A video clip surfacing following what has been described as a "massacre" depicts a man walking through several rooms where dozens of corpses can be seen, and distress can be heard throughout the school.

Al-Buraq School

On 9 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed Al-Buraq School on Lababidi Street in the Al-Nasr neighbourhood, north of Gaza City, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. The people took shelter in the school were ones that their homes were destroyed. At least 50 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported. The Israeli missile fell on the school in the morning when thousands of people were sheltering inside it. The attack led to the death of at least 50 people and injuries. Among the dead were also children. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that dozens of others were injured. The IDF claimed that Ahmed Siam, a Hamas commander who they alleged “held hostage approximately 1,000 Gazan residents at Rantisi Hospital," was killed in the strike along with other Hamas operatives.

Al-Falah School On 17 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed Al-Falah School in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of the city, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 20 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported. The Israeli missile fell on Al-Falah School in the morning, when thousands of people were sheltering in it. Due to the communications blackout in the Gaza Strip at the time, rescue teams were not aware of the strike on the school until the following day.

Abu Hussein School

On 23 November 2023, an Israeli airstrike bombed the Abu Hussein School in Jabalia camp, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 27 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported. The Israeli missile fell on Abu Hussein School in the morning when thousands of people were sheltering inside of it. The Abu Hussein School was again bombed in October 2024, reportedly killing at least 28 people, including multiple children.

An-Nazla School The An-Nazla elementary school in northern Gaza was bombed while hundreds of refugees sheltered there. At least ten people were killed, including children. On 25 May 2024, a woman whose daughter was injured in the attack, stated, "The children were playing in the schoolyard, and suddenly we were bombed. We lived something unnatural."

Al-Sardi

Haifa School On 15 December 2023, an Israeli airstrike struck the Haifa School in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, which was being used by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) as a shelter. At least 20 people were killed in the attack, with multiple injuries reported. The aerial bombardment resulted in the death of Al Jazeera photographer Samer Abu Daqqa, and the injury of Wael Al-Dahdouh, director of Al Jazeera in Gaza.

Israa University Israa University in Al-Zahra, south of Gaza City, was destroyed by the Israeli military in January 2024. UNOCHA reported that the IDF had been using the campus as "an ad hoc detention facility for interrogating Palestinian detainees before their transfer to an unknown location". Birzeit University accused the IDF of stealing 3,000 rare artifacts before destroying the university.

Al-Awda school

Khadija School airstrike

Hamama School

Al-Tabin School

Al-Jawni School

Shadia Abu Ghazala School Massacre

In December 2023 reports emerged of a massacre of Palestinians, including women, children and babies, by Israeli forces in the Shadia Abu Ghazala School, west of Jabalia refugee camp in Al-Faluja, the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The massacre reportedly occurred in early December. The school had been used as a shelter and had been surrounded by the IDF for several days. Video and photo footage showed bodies piled up in the school and damage to the school's interiors. Survivors of the massacre recounted women, children and babies being "killed execution-style" by Israeli troops as they were sheltering in the school. Reports say at least 7 and up to 15 bullet-ridden bodies were found.

Fahmi al-Jarjawi School Massacre

On 25 May 2025, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 36 people, including 18 children and six women and injured at least 55 others in the Fahmi Al-Jarjawi School in al-Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City.

Others 2023 On 3 December 2023, the Israeli Air Force bombed the Holy Family school in Gaza City.

2024 In July 2024, Israeli airstrikes hit a number of schools, leading the UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma to state attacks on schools had become "almost a daily occurrence". On 7 July 2024, an Israeli attack on the Al-Jaouni school killed at least 16 Palestinians and injured 50, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Al-Jawni school was hit by an Israeli strike that killed 16 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The following day, the Holy Family school in Gaza City was hit by a strike, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem stated the school was "a place of refuge for hundreds of civilians". On 14 July 2024, an Israeli strike on the Abu Oraiban School killed 22 people and wounded 100, per the Gaza Health Ministry. On 16 July 2024, an Israeli airstrike on the al-Razi school in the Nuseirat refugee camp reportedly killed at least 42 people, becoming the sixth UN school to be bombed in a ten-day period. On 17 July 2024, UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma stated eight schools had been hit in the prior two weeks. On 27 July, at least 30 people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a Deir al-Balah school.

In August 2024, UNOCHA stated that Israeli attacks against schools appeared to be "occurring with increasing frequency." Early in the month, Israeli airstrikes on the al-Nasr, Hassan Salama, and Dalal al-Mughrabi schools resulted in dozens of casualties. According to UNOCHA, the schools were sheltering thousands of internally displaced people. On 4 August 2024, an Israeli airstrike on the Hassan Salame school killed at least 30 people, according to the Palestinian emergency response agency. The school was functioning as a shelter for displaced people. On 20 August 2024, the Gaza Civil Defence authority stated that an Israeli airstrike had killed at least 12 people at the Mustafa Hafez school. The following day, the Civil Defence stated at least an Israeli airstrike killed at least four people in the Salah al-Din School.

In September 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 24 people and wounded 30 on the Zeitoun School in Gaza City. The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the strike in the "strongest terms". Later that same month, an Israeli attack on the Hafsa al-Faluja School killed at least fifteen people. 28 people were killed in October 2024 by an Israeli bombing of the Rufaida school. Seven people were reportedly killed by an Israeli bombing of the Zayd ibn Haritha school. On 19 October 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 73 people at the Asmaa School in Gaza's Al-Shati refugee camp in Beit Lahia, according to Gaza's Civil Defense. On 24 October 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 17 people at the Al-Shuhada school, according to hospital officials. On 3 November 2024, the IDF attacked a Gaza Soup Kitchen school in Beit Lahia, which had a sign on its roof stating: "School. Please Don't Bomb" in Hebrew and English.

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