The autumn term at the Josur School in Gaza City starts in six tents. The area where the school is located, al-Sabra, is hardly a neighborhood in the traditional sense anymore. Residential buildings are in ruins and tents have taken their place. It is one of the areas in Gaza that has been hit hardest by the war.
97.5 percent of schools have been damaged or completely destroyed in the war in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN. Many of the school buildings that are still standing also function as housing for internally displaced persons. It is not possible to get the families to leave them, according to the headmaster Islam al-Shami.
- The teaching tents are not even close to replacing the traditional schools. We must not forget that this is a temporary solution, he tells DN on the phone.
On the first day of school, the principal stands in front of the children and makes them warm up with a few arm movements. He welcomes the students and is both friendly and strict at the same time.
- There are too many of us. Anyone who disturbs will be sent home, he says in front of the students.
- The benches have been difficult to get hold of. You must be afraid of them.
The school desks are not enough for everyone. Four or five students can be crowded at a bench that is normally intended for two. The students in year seven sit cross-legged on the ground in the tent.
22 teachers will be enough for around 1,200 students. Most of the teachers live in the tent camps where the school tents have been set up. They themselves are badly affected by the war.
- Our students feel bad mentally. So do their guardians and teachers. I personally feel bad mentally, says the principal al-Shami.
There is a shortage of everything and the tents are not always waterproof. In the summer, the heat under the tent cloths becomes severe. In winter comes the rain.
- The student is sitting and writing and suddenly water starts dripping onto the pad, says Islam al-Shami.
After all, the first school day of the semester is a long-awaited day.
- I waited impatiently for the school to open. I am happy, says Maha Mohammed, 11 years old.
The last time she wore a school uniform was three years ago, for a few school days before October 7, 2023, when Israel launched its full-scale war against Gaza, following the Hamas terror attack. She talks about things she misses: school bag, nice shoes and clean clothes.
During the years without normal education, there was no real school, says Maha.
- We didn't study, but just played. For many months there was no school, no books, nothing. We sat and sat and sat doing nothing.
Twelve-year-old Ismail Shehata describes the return in a similar way.
- It feels as if I am in another world, a beautiful world.
He and his friend Suhaib, who lives in a tent next door, play and study together. Both want to become doctors to help people who are sick and injured.
The war follows them into the classroom. Ismail's family's house was destroyed. His clothes were left under the ruins and his father lacks steady work. It was difficult to get writing books.
Two people are missing from the family.
- My mother and brother were killed in the war. I wish mom had been here. When one's mother dies, it feels as if the whole world dies.
His little brother would have started preschool by now.
- If he had been allowed to live, he would have grown up, started playing with other children and been happy.
Ismail says he only recognizes one of the students from his old class. Other comrades have probably died or are refugees elsewhere.
At least 21,700 children have been killed up to June this year, and more than 11,000 have suffered life-changing injuries, according to Unicef.
Many children in Gaza's schools are called "the only survivor". This makes the teachers' task even more difficult - to take care of children whose entire families have been wiped out.
- A few days ago a woman came to me with her nephew and said: "His whole family has been killed", says the principal Islam al-Shami.
Unicef has warned that several years without regular schooling risks setting children's educational level back about five years. About 765,000 children in Gaza are in urgent need of education.
After the ceasefire began in October 2025, an attempt to resume teaching began. In January 2026, Unicef and its partners launched the "Back to Learning" initiative. The goal is, among other things, alternative teaching places, easier repairs of schools, informal teaching and psychosocial support for the children.
Unicef's head of communications in Palestine, Toby Fricker, believes that the children's return to school offers some hope amid all the horror they have been through in recent years.
- It is not normal schooling they return to. But being able to attend classes, even if it's in a tent, is extremely important for their well-being. It's not just about making up for lost teaching, but also about regaining routines and stability and getting to meet friends and teachers in a structured learning environment, he says.
- I visited a school in Gaza City recently and the classrooms were filled with energy. Boys enthusiastically raised their hands to answer the teachers' questions during the Arabic lesson, and in other classes the girls discussed their daily challenges, but also their hopes for the future.
In Josurskolan, students are taught the subjects of mathematics, English, Arabic and science.
- Four subjects in a tent cannot replace a functioning school. But teaching has to start somewhere, says the principal, who sounds optimistic about the future.
Amira abu Ghneima, 12, enjoys the English lessons best so far. She lives with her uncle after her father was killed in the war.
- I am very happy that we have returned to school. I should have actually been in grade seven, but I lost a year because of the war. I hope I can get a backpack and some crayons.
Student Ismail wants school buildings instead of tents. He also longs for clothes, shoes, notebooks and pencils - but above all an everyday life similar to that of other children.
- We want to be like the children outside Gaza. We wish we could live safely, without wars and disasters.
