The first day of the new school year passed tragic and sad for the student Jihad Abdel Nabi, from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, after the death of his colleague and friend Nazmi Abu Karsh.
"At first, I could not believe when I heard the news of Nazmi´s death (...) but I realized Now we won´t see him again.. Nazmi is gone and will never come back."
Abu Karsh and four other children of the "Najm family" were killed near the Fallujah cemetery in Jabalia refugee camp, during air raids carried out by the Israeli air force on the fifth of August, and lasted for three days against the (Islamic Jihad) movement, killing 50 people, from Among them are 17 children.
Abu Karsh was supposed to join his classmates in the first year of secondary school, but "death was faster than him," says Abdel Nabi, adding, "I don´t know what our fault is for living in such tragic conditions."
"The only thing we need now is security so that we can live in peace without feeling the fear of death at any moment without any guilt," Abdul Nabi added, while fighting back tears.
Another friend, Ahmed, told Xinhua, "Nazmi used to dream of a decent life with us and was passionate about playing football (...) Really, we miss him today and his constant jokes to us."
His friend added, while feeling the picture of Abu Karsh, "The Israeli army succeeded in killing our colleague in turning this day into a real tragedy, but it will not succeed in preventing us from continuing our lives and building our future by our ahead educational path."
As for the girl, Areej Asaliya, from Gaza, she was forced to attend her school year in the fifth grade of primary school, despite losing her right eye as a result of one of the Israeli raids.
The little girl, Areej Asali, does not stop crying while her mother brushes her hair before she goes to school.
Areej told Xinhua, "I will not forget when I hit the shrapnel of an Israeli missile in my eye and lost it (...) I feel sad and in pain because I will go to my school without being able to see the blackboard well or read what the teachers write."
The girl needs a "complex surgery" that cannot be performed in the Gaza Strip, according to what local doctors confirmed to her family.
Areej expressed her desire to travel to receive her treatment in order to regain her sight and a normal life.
More than a million Palestinian students in the West Bank and Gaza Strip went to their schools this morning with the start of the new school year.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education said in a press statement that about 911,000 students will study in 2,333 public schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while 339,000 students will study in 375 schools affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and 134,000 students will study in 484 schools. especially.
The Ministry of Education in Gaza announced that the first week of the school year will start with some educational programs for psychological support to get rid of the effects of tension due to the recent military operation and to prepare and prepare them properly for the school year.
Elementary and middle school students in government schools obtained several psychological activities carried out by a number of clowns, especially in the schools of students who lost their friends during the military tension, in an attempt to reintegrate them into the educational process.
According to a report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, nine out of 10 children in Gaza have experienced some form of conflict-related trauma due to Israeli military tensions in the Gaza Strip.
"Unfortunately, a large number of Gaza students live under unsafe conditions, especially since the military tensions between Israel and the armed Palestinian factions have not ended yet," Derdah Al-Shaer, a researcher and psychological expert, told Xinhua.
He added that "Children, most of whom are school students in different educational stages, are the most affected by the repercussions of the Israeli wars, which separated them from normal life."
He continued, "There is no doubt that the teacher will suffer a lot before he succeeds in integrating the students into the educational process again, especially since a not small percentage of the students are still suffering from the repercussions of the Israeli war in 2021. "
The poet called on parents to help their students overcome their fears by encouraging them to pay attention to their lessons on the one hand, and allowing them to play on the other hand.
