Gaza schoolchildren lack basic equipment

Some 1,200 students at al-Karmel High School for boys in Gaza City returned to class on 25 August without history and English textbooks, or notebooks and pens - all unavailable on the local market. Severe damage to the school - caused during the 23-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on 18 January - has yet to be repaired. Al-Karmel's principal, Majed Yasin, has had to cover scores of broken windows with plastic sheeting. "The entire west side of the school was damaged adjacent to Abbas police station which was targeted on 27 December," said Yasin. "We have yet to repair the US$65,000-worth of damage, since glass and other building materials are still unavailable." Educational institutions across Gaza are still reeling from the effects of the Israeli offensive, compounded by the more than two-year Israeli blockade (tightened after Hamas seized power in June 2007), according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). At least 280 schools out of 641 in Gaza were damaged and 18 destroyed during the military operation. None have been rebuilt or repaired to date due to continued restrictions on the entry of construction materials, OCHA reported.