The children of Gaza struggle to continue education amid the ongoing war

GAZA and LONDON -- Ten-year-old Yahya Al-Ghazali raises his hand enthusiastically, his eyes wide as he wriggles in his chair, eager to be chosen to answer the teacher's question. He blurts out his response, then basks in his teacher's approval.

It's a familiar scene in classrooms the world over, but this classroom is different than most. It's inside of a tent, the sides made of tarpaulin and plywood. There are no windows, the floor is bare sand, and the desks are crammed in with little space between them.

And yet it is in very high demand. This makeshift school is one of the few places in Gaza where, after a year of war, children can still get an education. An ABC News visual analysis in September revealed that at least 70% of all schools in Gaza – 399 school buildings – have been damaged or destroyed since the Israel-Hamas War began one year ago on Oct. 7, 2023.

The result is some 625,000 children in Gaza have been unable to attend school since the war began, according to the United Nations, but it's not just because so many schools were destroyed. Many schools closed because of the chaos, or they're now serving as shelters for displaced families, according to relief agencies. Some parents also keep their children with them to better ensure their safety, rather than letting them attend school. And some families have been displaced so many times by the war that they have no idea where to find a school for their children to attend.

"No child is getting the education that they need," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told ABC News in an interview from Gaza. "We are at risk of losing a generation, despite the greatest efforts from parents, from UNICEF."

"That would be catastrophic for Gaza," he added. "That would be catastrophic for the region."

Education has always been a high priority for those living in Gaza. "I don't think enough people outside of Gaza are aware that Gazans and Palestinians have one of the highest literacy rates on the planet," Elder explained. "There is actually one simple reason why Gaza has not collapsed, and that's because of Gazans. That's because of the importance they put on education."

According to a United Nations press release posted in January 2023, the literacy rate in Palestine then stood at 97.7%.

That emphasis on education is why Yahya and about 30 other children were all crammed into that small tent in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, learning English, Arabic and mathematics.

"Education is very important to us in Gaza," Huda Alian, Yahya's 32-year-old mother, told ABC News, explaining that she encouraged her son to go to the temporary school "so that he doesn't forget what he's already learned."

But alongside Yahya's eagerness to learn there's a pain clearly visible in his eyes, a palpable disquiet.

"The war took away everything I love," he told ABC News. "It took away my home, my toys, my room, my friends, and my school. I don't like the way I look because I don't wear the nice clothes I used to wear before the war. I'm tired of filling water every day and waiting for long hours."

Yahya's life, like that of most people in Gaza, has been completely upended by the conflict that began a year ago when Hamas terrorists entered Israel, killed over 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages. Israel's retaliatory attacks have killed close to 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which said a majority of the dead were women and children.

Aid agencies say that children have been disproportionately affected by this war.

"When UNICEF called this a long time ago a war on children, we didn't say that for a headline," UNICEF's Elder told ABC News. "We say that because that's what the evidence speaks to. There is a disproportionate impact on children compared to all other conflicts, in terms of injuries, in terms of those killed."

Elder called the number of children killed "insane," asking, "How on earth do parents keep children safe?"

"There's been a moment where children have looked into their parents' eyes and realized that they can't keep them safe. And that's a horrible moment for parents," he added.

Yahya's father, Mahmoud Al-Ghazali, put it simply: "They have lost their childhood."

The Al-Ghazali family moved from Gaza City near the beginning of the conflict and since then have been displaced three times, finally settling in a tent in Deir al Balah.

"Our children's lives have turned from calm and stability to chaos and destruction," Yahya's mother said.

Mahmoud Al-Ghazali also explained that the school where Yahya used to study in Gaza City was hit by a missile in late September.

"He lost his friends and classmates," Yahya's father said. "Now he is in a state of sadness and shock."

But Yahya, like the other children, has found some solace in his tent classroom.

"I go to the educational tents to study anything useful," he said. Yet even so: "I miss my books and studying with my classmates. I don't want to stay in the tent all my life."

Yahya added, "I want the war to end and for me to go back to my normal life."

But the war's toll is also etched into Lana's young face. She, too, has lost many people in the conflict and was particularly upset when a close friend of hers died. Lana's mother, 30-year-old Jihan Hamed Abu Nahl, told ABC News that her daughter is often in a state of distress, asking when the war will end and why all this destruction is happening in Gaza.

"They have become very nervous and sometimes cry for no reason when they sleep," Jihan Hamed Abu Nahl said, talking about Lana and her two sisters. "Suddenly they wake up from a nightmare and tell me that they saw a missile falling on the tent and we died."

ABC News has interviewed many children in Gaza during this conflict and they all say how much they miss school, like 11-year-old Salma Abu Odah. Unlike Yahya and Lana, Salma attends classes in a rare school in Deir al Balah that's still standing, though it's also being used to house Gazans displaced by the war.

"I miss school very much and my classmates more and more," Salma said, adding that she yearned for her life to return to normal: "When the war ends I will go and sit on the rubble of the house and I will search for my things from my room and the bricks of my house."

"My dream is for the war to end and for us to return to our home and rebuild it and live in peace," Salma added, with a nervous smile.

ABC News' Victoria Beaule, Somayeh Malekian, Diaa Ostaz, and Samy Zyara contributed to this report.