For Fr Manawel Musallam, who runs a Catholic school in the Gaza Strip, it is impossible for Palestinian children to go back to normal. Israeli bombing destroyed 24 schools and damaged 190 others. Out of 1.8 million people, nearly 45 per cent under 14.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Like in many other countries of the world, yesterday was the first day of school in Gaza. However, Palestinian students who are back in classrooms are unable to speak, run, or cry. Many are filthy, living in the streets without a tent or a blanket to cover themselves. Some are sheltered by the few families who managed to keep their home by some miracle.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Manawel Musallam, a Palestinian priest who has run a Catholic school in Gaza for the past 15 years, said that the situation is "extremely tragic because these kids have lost their humanity."

In the Gaza Strip, schools reopened with a three-week delay following two months of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Hostilities, which broke out on 8 July, left 2,140 Palestinians dead, including more than 500 children.

In Gaza, almost 45 per cent of the population of 1.8 million is under 14 years of age. According to the local Education Ministry, 24 schools were destroyed by Israeli bombardments, with another 190 partially damaged.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees, which runs 245 schools in Gaza, estimates that 373,000 children in Gaza will "require direct and specialised psycho-social support" this school year.

"Many schools have been turned into shelters for people who had their homes destroyed," Fr Musallam told AsiaNews.

 "However, when a thousand people are put together in a place without power or water, you can imagine the public health problems. It took us more than 15 days to clean and tidy everything up," said the clergyman, who has been pastor at the Holy Family parish for many years.

"Sometimes I wonder whether reopening schools makes any sense," he noted, because the kids "are not going to learn much Arabic, English, science, or physics. They are not going to study."

"They need at least one year of psychological treatment and rehabilitation, but here in Palestine we do not have any specialist who could take care of them. They are wounded human beings." And "Anyone in their condition, without adequate treatment, is likely to become dangerous to others."

"We should work to turn them into agents of peace," he explained. "But young men who are now 17 have already seen four wars. Israel showed no mercy towards the Palestinian people. Now these children have lost their humanity, joy, and freedom. They are again far from peace, from love towards others, accepting others. These kids are tomorrow's fighters, and are likely to become terrorists." (GM)

• palestine
• israel
• school
• reopening
• psychological
• impact