Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of bombing more than 500 schools in Gaza since 7 October 2023, many of which were sheltering displaced families. The rights group says the strikes, often leaving the buildings in ruins, have killed hundreds of civilians and stripped Palestinians of the last remaining places of safety.

HRW described the attacks as part of a broader pattern of targeting Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, forcing repeated displacement and deepening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. It warned that the destruction has crippled education for an entire generation, with reconstruction likely to take years under the current blockade.

Calling for an arms embargo on Israel, HRW urged governments to uphold their obligations under the UN Genocide Convention and hold those responsible to account. The report adds to mounting evidence of potential war crimes as Gaza’s population faces relentless bombardment, hunger, disease, and the collapse of essential services.

With every school destroyed, Palestinians are left with nowhere to flee, proof, HRW says, that in Gaza, not even a classroom is safe from the war.