On World Children's Day: About 19,000 students have been martyred and 28,000 others injured since the beginning of the aggression.

On World Children's Day, which falls on November 20 each year, Palestine remembers its children, who have paid a heavy price due to the Israeli genocide that has affected their lives, education, and dreams since October 7, 2023.

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated in a press release today, Thursday, on the occasion of World Children's Day, that more than 19,000 children from school students have become martyrs, and about 28,000 have been injured, with hundreds of schools, kindergartens, childhood centers, nurseries, and playgrounds being completely or partially damaged in Gaza and the West Bank since the beginning of the genocide until today.

It added: On this day, which is globally dedicated to affirming children's rights to protection, education, dignity, care, play, and more, we affirm that the children of Palestine deserve to live in a stable environment that guarantees them the right to free, safe, and quality education, just as international charters and laws have ensured; especially the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

It pointed out that while countries and institutions around the world celebrate this occasion, violations by the occupation army and its settlers against our children continue in various areas, in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the areas classified as "C"; hardly a day goes by without mourning a child who falls to the bullets of a settler or an occupying soldier, and this reality is not limited to documentation in numbers; rather, it is narratives of stories left behind by dreams, ambitions, and hopes that were shattered in moments, and the effects of the crimes committed by the occupation army against our children in Gaza are still present and require punishment and deterrence.

The Ministry of Education called for the urgent protection of children and school students in Palestine, supporting relief and educational recovery efforts for the children and students of Gaza, rehabilitating the educational infrastructure in the affected areas, expanding psychological and social support programs for affected school students, and continuing to invest in equitable quality education that enhances resilience and steadfastness.