In Gaza, the recent spate of schools hit in ongoing Israeli bombardment threatens the futures of a “whole generation” of children in the embattled enclave, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said on Wednesday.

In an interview with UN News, UNRWA Director of Communications Juliette Touma explained that for the 600,000 children in Gaza who’ve been unable to go to school since war erupted on 7 October, the longer they stay out of school, the harder it is for them to catch up on their education.

For some, there are additional grave concerns that they are at risk of exploitation such as child labour and child marriage – “but also recruitment into armed groups and recruitment into the fighting”, Ms. Touma told Daniel Johnson.