GENEVA, August 25. /TASS/. The education system in the Gaza Strip is on the brink of collapse, with nearly 97% of schools being either destroyed or damaged as a result of Israel’s operations, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said.

"Gaza’s education system is on the verge of complete collapse, with almost every school building damaged in the war," it wrote on its X page. "Recent UNOSAT satellite imagery shows that more than 9 out of 10 schools - including UNRWA’s - will either need full reconstruction or major work to be functional again."

On March 18, Israel resumed hostilities in the Gaza Strip and delivered a series of strikes on Hamas targets, thus cutting short the ceasefire that had been in place in the enclave since January 2025. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office explained the move by Hamas' rejections of proposals advanced after talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff. It claimed that the goal of the operation was to release all of the Israeli hostages. Hamas placed responsibility for this latest spiral of escalation in Gaza on Israel and the United States.

On August 8, 2025, Israel’s war cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for taking control of Gaza City and expanding the operation throughout the enclave. The Gaza City seizure plan was endorsed by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on August 20.