The Director of Education at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Julia Decom, warned that the recovery of the educational system in Gaza may take up to seven years, based on research expectations, after what happened in the Strip during recent years of unrest and military operations that deprived children of their normal lives in schools.
Decom said in an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat: “When we opened the school year in September of this year, we met children who were supposed to be in the third grade, but they were entering a school building for the first time.” In the final years of primary school, there are children who have not received more than one full year of in-person education, due to the disruptions resulting from the Corona pandemic and the last three years of war. The gaps in their learning were exacerbated “by the psychological trauma resulting from loss and living under constant fear of bombing and uncertainty,” according to Dikum.
Research led by the British University of Cambridge, the Center for Lebanese Studies, and UNRWA reveals expectations that cumulative disruption will lead to a delay in children’s educational progress by up to five years. This estimate was made more than a year ago, and Decom suggests that the extent of the delay is greater now. As school disruption continues, Decom warns of the situation: “The longer this disruption continues, the wider the educational gaps will become, and the greater the risk that children will be permanently dropped out of education.” Therefore; Protecting children's connection to organized and recognized education is a top priority for the Agency, in parallel with providing the data, capabilities and conditions that allow the transition to safe and sustainable formal education.
At the beginning of the 2026-2027 school year, more than 200,000 children in Gaza, according to estimates reported by Dicom, were still deprived of access to organized learning. In contrast, the Education Group reported in September 2026 that there were 495,680 learners in 687 educational spaces managed by partners in humanitarian response initiatives. The “Education Group” is a mechanism for coordinating the efforts of humanitarian organizations working in the field of education in the Gaza Strip, which helps organize the response to learning needs in emergency situations. But accessing an educational space does not mean restoring a normal school day. Many children who have returned to learning receive much fewer hours than usual, amid overcrowding and a lack of school supplies, and in damaged buildings or temporary places that lack adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, in addition to displacement and explosive hazards.
“Gaza is still a long way from returning to full-time regular school education for all girls and boys,” Dikum adds. Restrictions on the entry of educational supplies and building materials, removing rubble and repairing and reconstructing facilities, hinder the normal educational process. In these circumstances, academic subjects were reduced to only Arabic, English, mathematics, and science, in addition to strengthening mental health and psychosocial support services. The severe damage also affected universities and technical and vocational education and training, which in turn offer modified forms of learning.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education of the Palestinian Authority had agreed to approve programs that use educational materials compatible with the Palestinian curriculum, including UNRWA’s distance education program, but many other programs offer non-formal and non-accredited learning experiences, which Dicom warns will not allow this generation to access higher education on a large scale. The Director of Education at UNRWA says: “The challenge is no longer simply returning children to some form of learning, but rather restoring good, sustainable and accredited education that allows children to learn, advance and acquire skills that will give them a future that supports recovery and inspires hope.”
UNRWA's educational response began in October 2023 with mental health and psychosocial support services for children in its shelter centers. In early 2024, the Agency developed flexible self-learning materials in core subjects, aligned with UN values and standards, and then began creating temporary learning spaces in the summer of the same year. By late 2024, it launched an approved distance learning program, trying to reconnect students with their teachers and classmates with whom they were distributed in August 2023, as much as possible. Until the end of September 2026, the agency was managing about 84 temporary learning spaces across Gaza, reaching approximately 100,000 learners, in addition to organized distance education reaching about 280,000 learners from first to ninth grade, according to figures provided by Dicom.
For comparison, UNRWA was teaching approximately 300,000 students from first to ninth grade in the 2022-2023 academic year. That is, half of the total students in grades one to twelve in the Gaza Strip, while the other half was distributed among the Palestinian Authority schools and the few private schools. Current in-person education takes place in tents and some classrooms inside the agency’s schools. In these spaces, families participate in preparing a place for study, even moving their belongings aside daily so that teachers can teach. Decom says that cooperation has developed between the people of Gaza and the UNRWA, leading to “the local community returning three school buildings to UNRWA for use in full-time education during the year 2026.” She adds that “this reflects the importance that Gaza communities attach to education, and the contribution they make to its restoration.”
Appeal efforts extended to technical and vocational training for Palestine refugee youth between 16 and 18 years of age. The beginning was to help those enrolled at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year to complete their training and obtain their certificates, using blended learning and online learning. In September 2026, the agency registered students for two-year courses, and plans to launch shorter vocational courses, especially in skills that can contribute to recovery, although this type of training is not usually part of the emergency response, according to Decom.
Returning to learning provides an opportunity to reduce the widening of gaps, but compensating for the turbulent years requires knowing what each child can actually achieve, and providing support appropriate to his or her current level. The Director of Education believes that “educational recovery is possible, but there is no quick way to compensate for the turbulent years of education.” This path begins with reading, writing and mathematics, assessing individual learning levels, providing modified teaching materials and ongoing support from teachers. It is also linked to the broader conditions in which children live and attempt to study, and whether they receive adequate and regular educational time. Decom sets the immediate goal by saying: “What matters now is to prevent further educational loss and give children a reliable path back to a sustainable, quality education.”
UNRWA is currently facing a major challenge represented by its financial crisis, which may hinder the continuation and expansion of its educational response. Maintaining existing programs and preparing to return to formal education when conditions permit require ongoing resources against which planning can be made. Decom concludes by emphasizing that “providing sustainable, regular and predictable funding” is essential to sustaining learning opportunities and supporting the return to safe, well-resourced formal education.
The ongoing Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, and the expansion of their scope in some areas to greater distances than the border strip, raise questions about the limits of actual military deployment and the nature of the areas that have become subject to surveillance or targeting from advanced Israeli positions. This discussion gains an additional dimension with the Israeli Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, speaking more than once about an area approximately 700 square kilometers, while field data show that control over the land is not at a single level, but rather ranges between direct deployment in specific points, mobile incursions, and fire control over broader areas.
This area, according to military readings, does not appear to be a belt of equal depth extending in a fixed line from the coast to Mount Hermon, as the nature of the land, the heights, and the axes of movement impose a clear disparity between the sectors. In areas there are Israeli forces and vehicles directly, while other areas remain outside fixed deployment, but are located under air surveillance or within range of fire, allowing operations to be carried out there without the need to keep permanent forces inside them.
Dr. Riyad Kahwaji, an expert in security and defense affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israel views, from both geographical and military angles, the Golan and Lebanon as “one front,” extending from Mount Hermon all the way to the Mediterranean coast at Naqoura and Bayada, even though it passes through the territories of two countries. Qahwaji explained that “Israel is establishing, from its point of view, a security belt along its northern borders,” pointing out that field developments mean that this belt “is no longer confined to the south of the Litani River, but rather has extended in some areas to its north.” He said: “In practice, the geographical map expanded and was no longer limited to the south of the Litani, and it extended towards its north, specifically from the side of Metulla, because the distance between Metulla and the Litani River is short, and is about 7 kilometers, while the distance between Naqoura and the Litani is about 30 kilometers.” He added that this difference in distances explains, from a geographical standpoint, the belt’s reach at some points to the north of the Litani.
Thus, according to this reading, the Litani does not constitute a single line that identically separates the two areas of operations, north and south, as the distance to it varies from one region to another, and geography imposes a different depth of deployment or firepower. Qahwaji distinguishes between direct military deployment and control over wider areas through surveillance and fire. In his explanation of the concept of “control by fire,” Qahwaji said that Israel relies on about 20 points where small military concentrations are deployed, explaining: “At each point, a force of the size of a company could be placed, while in the depth there are drones that are constantly working to monitor movements.” He added: “Whenever the drones detect any movement, it is targeted, either with artillery or an air strike, or a patrol can be launched from one of these points towards the place where the movement was detected within the scope of the so-called Yellow Belt.” Qahwaji concluded, “This is the meaning of control by fire: it is not necessary for there to be an actual and heavy military deployment throughout the entire area of the belt, but rather specific military points, with permanent monitoring by fire and drones, and the ability to target any movement or send a patrol to it.”
This pattern is evident in a number of sectors of the South. In the west, the scope of operations begins from Naqoura and the coastal sector, and extends to areas that have recently been subjected to repeated incursions, bombings, and bombings, including Al-Mansouri and its environs. In the central sector, towns such as Beit Yahoun, Hadada, Haris and Ayta al-Jabal witnessed varying Israeli movements or attacks, without the level of military presence there being the same. The depth of operations increases towards Shaqif and Ali Al-Taher Heights, as the nature of the land and heights give it the ability to supervise wider areas extending towards Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah, and the surrounding movement axes. Here the shape of the scope of control becomes more complex than just a strip extending along the border.
Retired Brigadier General Fadi Dawoud proposes a broader interpretation of a possible path of expansion, based on controlling the heights and their ability to control fire in the areas below them. Daoud told Asharq Al-Awsat, “It is clear in southern Lebanon that the expansion limits may reach the Awali River, and if they do not reach the Awali, the concentration will remain in the highlands that govern the Awali River,” noting that this expansion also includes “Al-Rayhan and the surroundings of Jezzine, specifically Kfarhouna.” Daoud explained that “the borders will be, from the west, at the Awali River,” considering that the main factor in charting the course of movements is “geographic control,” especially control of the heights that allow control of the areas below them without the need for direct deployment there. He said: “Geographic control will enable him to control the Western Bekaa from the right, because it is mainly located in Mount Hermon, and the Western Bekaa has become an enclave between Mount Hermon and Rayhan,” adding: “He will be stationed there to control the Bekaa.”
Daoud indicated that this path could extend from Jabal al-Rayhan towards the highlands of Iqlim al-Tuffah, saying: “It will move from Jabal al-Rayhan to the highlands of Iqlim al-Tuffah, including Jabal Safi, where it imposes its control over the party’s stronghold in Iqlim al-Tuffah, and controls Sidon, eastern Sidon, and the Awali River.” He stressed that the nature of the land is what determines the course of military movements, saying: “Geography is fixed, and geography will follow,” considering that controlling the heights gives the ability to control fire in the areas below them without the necessity of full military deployment there. He added: “His control over Mount Hermon makes the Western Bekaa region fall (militarily) up to Qaraoun,” pointing out that Mount Hermon overlooks two main areas, as “on the western side of Mount Hermon is the Western Bekaa, and on the eastern side is Daraa in Syria,” adding that the two regions “will form two enclaves” on both sides of Mount Hermon. The two readings show that the discussion about the area of 700 square kilometers is not limited to the number of towns in which there are forces on the ground, but is also related to the heights, observation points, the field of fire, and the ability of the forces to move from them to neighboring areas, while the size of the actual deployment remains different from one sector to another.
On the ground, on Friday morning, an Israeli drone launched a raid targeting the roundabout of the town of Kafr Tibnit in the Nabatieh district, amid preliminary information about casualties, coinciding with the Israeli army carrying out two bombings on the outskirts of the town and in Al-Mansouri in the Tyre district. The Israeli army burned forests in the town of Qantara, and carried out a sweep with machine guns towards Wadi Al-Hujair, while an Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb near Kfar Shuba, and a low flight of drones was recorded over the southern suburb of Beirut and the city of Tire and its environs.
