The war in Gaza has put more than half a million boys and girls out of school, said the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In a statement on X, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that “4 months of a brutal war in #Gaza, the toll on children is tragic, their future at stake”.

“More than half a million girls & boys are out of primary & secondary school in Gaza. Every day of war deepens the scars, risking a lost generation vulnerable to exploitation”, added Lazzarini. “Children are being robbed of childhood”.

The Commissioner-General said this situation “needs to be reversed starting with a humanitarian ceasefire”.