EDUCATION is resuming for 300,000 Palestinian students in the Gaza Strip after two years of the Israeli genocide war, with 8,000 teachers coming back to work, Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency announced yesterday.
Abu Hasna said: ‘The agency has developed plans to resume education after two years of disruption,’ noting that ‘ten thousand students will receive their education in some shelter centres, while the rest will study through virtual learning’.
He added that around 8,000 teachers will participate in the educational process.
Abu Hasna also warned that ‘the situation is deteriorating dangerously, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living in the open after returning to Gaza City following the entry into force of the ceasefire agreement’ (on October 10th). He stressed that the entry of aid has become an urgent necessity before the winter season.
Hamas also rejected a statement from the United States State Department in which it cited ‘credible reports’, indicating the Palestinian group would imminently violate the ceasefire deal with Israel.
Hamas said the US allegations are false and ‘fully align with the misleading Israeli propaganda and provide cover for the continuation of the occupation’s crimes and organised aggression’ against the Palestinians in Gaza.
The US State Department claimed that Hamas is planning an attack against civilians in Gaza ‘in grave violation of the ceasefire’ and called on the mediating nations to demand that the group uphold its obligations under the US-backed peace deal.
In a statement late on Saturday, the State Department claimed it had obtained ‘credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza’.
‘Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,’ it said, without giving specific details on the planned attack.
Hamas called on the US to ‘stop repeating the (Israeli) occupation’s misleading narrative and to focus on curbing its repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement’.
‘The facts on the ground reveal the exact opposite, as the occupation authorities are the ones who formed, armed, and funded criminal gangs that carried out killings, kidnappings, theft of aid trucks, and assaults against Palestinian civilians.
‘They have openly admitted their crimes through media and video clips, confirming the occupation’s involvement in spreading chaos and disrupting security,’ it said.
Hamas said its police forces in Gaza, ‘with broad popular and community support, are fulfilling their national duty in pursuing these gangs and holding them accountable according to clear legal mechanisms, to protect citizens and preserve public and private property’.
Gaza’s Government Media Office says Israel has violated the ceasefire agreement with Hamas 47 times since the truce came into effect on October 10th, killing at least 38 Palestinians and injuring 143 others.