Early on Saturday morning, Rana Totah held her two sons’ hands as she walked them to school in al-Katiba, Gaza City, watching them return to a routine they had almost forgotten.
asserted
they → hold → routine
It was a return to family life interrupted by nearly three years of war and displacement after Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023.
asserted
war → interrupt → October
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Private schools become a costly choice for struggling parents in Gaza
- list 2 of 4Israeli ‘double-tap’ air strike responsible for killing schoolboy in Gaza
- list 3 of 4For checkpoint and settler attack news, Palestinians tune into the radio
- list 4 of 4Lacking equipment, but not ambition: Gaza students try to keep up with tech
asserted
students → become → tech
Displaced from Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood to al-Katiba in western Gaza City, Totah spent the previous night
asserted
Totah → displace → night
She made sure they slept early the night before, then woke them, dressed them and brought them to school.
“Honestly, today was a beautiful day for me.
asserted
today → make → me
It even felt like Eid,” Totah told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Totah → feel → Jazeera
“I prepared my children, they were excited and they went to bed early.
asserted
they → prepare → bed
I prepared them as if it were a normal school day.”
asserted
it → prepare → them
The Gaza Municipality school was set up in about 10 tents in the western Gaza City neighbourhood as a temporary space for a return to face-to-face education.
asserted
school → set → education
“Sometimes there would be months when I stopped taking them altogether,” Totah said.
asserted
Totah → stop → them
During the war, including when the family was in Khan Younis, Totah tried to keep her four children in education through informal learning via volunteer-led initiatives.
asserted
Totah → include → initiatives
But attendance was irregular, with the dangers of war and the struggle to find necessities a priority for parents, teachers and students.
asserted
dangers → find → parents
Ultimately, survival came before school, and her children took on essential tasks such as fetching water, despite Totah’s pleas for them to focus on learning.
asserted
them → come → learning
They would think about things like, ‘Mum, bring me water,’ or ‘Mum, let me go and get you this.’
asserted
me → think → this
And I would tell them, ‘ No, I want to focus on your studies.’
asserted
I → tell → studies
A fragile return to learning
The return to face-to-face education comes after nearly three years of disruption due to Israel’s genocidal war, which has seen almost all of Gaza’s population displaced and most buildings in the enclave destroyed.
asserted
buildings → come → enclave
About 541,000 students returned to education in Gaza when the new school year began on September 19, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, which comes after a decrease – but not an end – in violence following the October 2025 ceasefire.
uncertain
which → return → ceasefire
In January, the ministry said 317,332 students were attending face-to-face educational spaces, schools and initiatives in Gaza.
asserted
students → say → Gaza
Another 120,000 were enrolled in virtual schools taught by teachers from the West Bank.
asserted
120,000 → enrol → Bank
However, despite the Gaza ceasefire, Israeli bombing has continued, with two students killed earlier this month.
asserted
students → continue → ceasefire
Such dangers have severely affected the learning environment and education remains severely constrained by war and other realities on the ground.
asserted
education → affect → ground
Nearly 98 percent of school buildings in Gaza had been damaged since October 2023, with more than 93 percent requiring major rehabilitation or full reconstruction, according to UNICEF.
uncertain
percent → damage → UNICEF
About 700,000 children aged four to 17 had missed formal face-to-face schooling for almost three consecutive school years, with around 420,000 having no face-to-face learning at all.
asserted
420,000 → age → learning
Inside one tent, Nesma Nahid Abu Asim was teaching mathematics to sixth-grade students, writing on a whiteboard as children sat on mattresses with notebooks on their laps.
asserted
children → teach → laps
She worked for the Ministry of Education before the war and now teaches through a UNICEF programme supporting education in Gaza.
asserted
She → work → Gaza
There have been major challenges for both parents and teachers as we try to get the student to safety,” she said.
asserted
she → try → safety
“Education is a right for every student … [but] students arrive without basic stationery or textbooks, while tables and chairs are largely unavailable.
asserted
tables → arrive → stationery
The student comes to school today in a dangerous situation, in a war situation.”
asserted
student → come → situation
Due to Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza, schools have reported a severe lack of stationery, schoolbooks, desks, and chairs.
asserted
schools → report → stationery
The biggest difficulty is that we stop education,” she said.
asserted
she → stop → education
“We have taken a good step and opened the school year.
asserted
We → take → year
We are returning to normal life, to education.
asserted
We → return → education
The student has the right to learn and to sit at a school desk.”
asserted
student → have → desk
Now she hopes temporary classrooms will eventually give way to safer and more permanent spaces for Gaza City’s children.
asserted
classrooms → hop → children
“I hope the schools will be emptied of displaced families and returned to these students.
asserted
schools → hope → students
These students are our children,” she said.
asserted
she → say → ?
“We cannot put 40 students in a tent.
asserted
We → put → tent
In a classroom, we can have 40 students.”
asserted
we → have → students
As his teacher continues her maths lesson, 11-year-old Osama Alayleh briefly paused to tell Al Jazeera how his first day in class feels.
asserted
day → continue → class
“I’m happy that I’m back at school,” he said.
asserted
he → ’m → school
…and 35 more, not listed.
The Aporia
