98 of every 100 schools in Gaza are damaged or destroyed, but children go back to class

Hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza went back to school on Saturday. It was their first day in a classroom for nearly three years. Many of them now sit in tents or in buildings that the war damaged.

UNICEF is a group that helps children around the world. UNICEF says 98 of every 100 schools in Gaza were destroyed or damaged in the war. Education officials in Gaza say about 660,000 students could not learn in a classroom during that time.

Now the Ministry of Education has opened the new school year. It built many simple schools from tents, wood and metal. Some have only a blackboard and a few mattresses on the ground. At least 540,000 students will study in these places this year. Students who cannot come, or who left Gaza, will keep learning online.

Moayed Abu Mustafa is a student in Khan Younis. "The last time I have been to school was three years ago. Now, we are starting the school year, it is year of joy, happiness and success," he said.

Notebooks and pens are very expensive now. Khaled Aliyan sells school things like pens and notebooks. He said one notebook cost 3 shekels before the war, and now it costs 15 shekels. He said it is hard to bring these things into Gaza, and that makes them cost more.

The war killed about 22,000 students and more than 770 education workers, said Ibrahim Ramadan, an education director in Gaza. But the children still want to learn.