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Gaza students inspecting their rubble-strewn school
[PHOTO: UNifeed]
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Gaza City: Last weekend the students in Gaza got the opportunity to
return to school and to regain a sense of normality following a week of
violence but the impressions left by violence are still strong.
At least 136 schools and kindergartens were damaged during
the conflict.
"They were destroying people's houses. We didn't know
that this event was going to take place. We were very worried that something
was going to happen to us. Our house was packed with people. We had over 30
people inside the house," says Ali Haboush, one of the students.
UNICEF and its partners are assessing the needs of
Palestinian families. Top of the list is basic repairs for damaged homes, along
with counselling for those children traumatized by the violence they have
experienced.
Jawad Rashad Siniora, a school teacher, says, "You might have
noticed the fear on their faces while they were standing in line before going
to their class. They just got out of war. It clear that the children were not
acting as usual, they were indeed affected by this war and they are still
affected this war."
Meanwhile, in the coming weeks, the United Nations Children Fund
(UNICEF) plans to distribute 20,000 school bags, and 118 schools will be
repaired for minor damage. -UNifeed