Airstrikes are a common occurrence, with drones constantly buzzing overhead and the looming threat of an Israeli ground invasion.
However, on a small patch of sandy wasteland on the outskirts of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, a group of teachers has established classrooms in tents, determined to continue educating despite the ongoing war. Nehad Badria, the principal, expressed pride in the scene, stating, “This magnificent scene sends a message to the world: We are a nation that values learning and education, rejecting ignorance.” He made these remarks in an address to students as they lined up outside the tents on Tuesday.
The students, all girls aged between 6 and 15, listened attentively before Badria led them in call-and-response chants. “We love to learn,” they shouted, pumping their fists in the air as they were filmed by an NBC News cameraman. “We are free, Arab Palestine.”
Named Al Awdah, which means “return” in Arabic, the school aims to serve some of the tens of thousands of children displaced by the conflict in Gaza. This name reflects the hope that one day, students and teachers can return to their homes in other parts of the enclave. Badria explained that he had been forced to leave his home in northern Gaza for Rafah, which had a population of around 250,000 before many of the strip’s residents were driven south by Israeli troops, swelling the city’s numbers to over 1 million.
Israel initiated its counteroffensive in Gaza following multiple attacks by Hamas on Israel, resulting in 1,200 deaths and over 240 people being taken hostage. Israel’s military has regularly bombed Rafah from the air, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch a full-scale ground invasion of the city to eliminate Hamas, despite calls from the U.S. and other allies for restraint. The Israeli army ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate from the city, indicating that a ground invasion could be imminent. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, stated that around 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last month that 80% of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since the conflict began. An NBC News investigation found that Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged at least five of the strip’s seven major universities.
More than 20 experts from OCHA questioned whether Israel has deliberately targeted educational infrastructure, a strategy they refer to as “scholasticide.” Israel denies these accusations, stating that Hamas fighters use civilian buildings as cover, a claim the militant group denies. Badria commented on the conditions at the school, saying, “We saw our students playing between the tents amid the waste and stagnant water, which aggravated the humanitarian, health, and environmental disaster. We felt the need to restore a sense of normality and provide education after more than seven months of deprivation.”
The school faced an overwhelming number of applicants. To manage the demand, the headmaster and his nine fellow teachers ration lessons for the 600 pupils selected to study there, holding classes three days a week for girls and three days for boys, all aged between 6 and 15. Each tent indicates the grade being taught.
In one class, volunteer teacher Diana Sabouh, 36, taught her ninth-grade class in English, asking her 24 students to name “the beautiful places in Gaza.” “Al Omari mosque,” one girl replied, referring to Gaza’s oldest mosque, which Palestinian officials say was leveled by an Israeli airstrike.
Malak Qanoa, 13, a classmate of Lian Shamaly, 14, recounted how three of her friends and some of her teachers at the school near her home in Gaza City had been killed. “We’re going to get such a shock finding out who’s dead and who’s alive,” she said.
As Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed efforts to broker a cease-fire with Hamas, Netanyahu stated that he would order his forces into the city even if some of the remaining Israeli hostages were released. “We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there — with or without a deal, in order to achieve total victory,” he said.
The Israeli military released video footage of dozens of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles a short drive away from Al Awdah, across the border in southern Israel.