Palestinian children denied return to school

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children were unable to begin a new school year on Monday after Israel raided schools in the West Bank and destroyed them in Gaza. The UN relief agency UNRWA said 660,000 children in Gaza were out of school for a third year, putting them at risk of becoming a “lost generation”. It said remaining schools were being used to shelter displaced families. “Gaza is in ruins. So is its education system,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said. “Today, instead of going back to school, like most children around the world, around 660,000 girls and boys in Gaza will be sifting through the rubble – desperate, hungry, traumatised and mostly bereaved.