In its latest report “Gaza: Israeli School Strikes Magnify Civilian Peril”, Human Rights Watch states that hundreds of Israeli attacks since October 2023 have struck over 500 school buildings through out the Gaza Strip.
These schools, used as shelters for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced since the Israeli war on the enclave, have since become killing fields. Many people living there continued to be killed because of the strikes.
The report stated the Israeli forces’ deadly attacks on schools sheltering Palestinian civilians highlight the absence of safe places for displaced people, the vast majority of Gaza’s population.
Human Rights Watch added the Israeli attacks is sure to contribute to the disruption of access to education for many years, as repair and reconstruction of schools can require significant resources and time.
The British military has secretly hired a US private company to conduct aerial surveillance over Gaza in search of Israeli soldier prisoners, according to The Times.
Due to a shortage of available RAF reconnaissance planes, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) turned to a Nevada-based firm, Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing LLC. The company is a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, one of the largest US military contractors.
The aircraft used, a Boeing Beech King Air 350i registered as N6147U, flew over southern Gaza on July 28. Its flight path was unintentionally revealed after the crew failed to switch off the transponder. This mistake exposed the plane’s presence over Khan Yunis, raising questions about Britain’s role in supporting Israeli operations.
Two UK defence sources confirmed to The Times that the government is paying for the aircraft and its missions. The plane is contractor-owned and operated, meaning British pilots are not flying it. The MoD has declined to disclose the cost or duration of the contract.
Sources say the MoD’s own fleet of Shadow R1 aircraft, which previously flew over Gaza, is either undergoing maintenance or assigned to other missions. One source described the outsourcing as a “privatization” of military intelligence and called it “shocking.”
“This is about supporting Israel,” a senior British military official told The Times. “Instead of sending a message that we’re pulling back, we’re hiring American contractors to do the job.”
Between December 2023 and July 2025, the RAF’s Shadow fleet reportedly carried out over 600 surveillance flights over Gaza. Intelligence gathered during those missions was shared with Israel to allegely help locate israeli soldier prisoners according to the Quds News Network.
The daily struggle to survive an ongoing war in Gaza and to protect one’s family – while reporting on the fear and chaos that conflict brings – has become an unrelenting obligation for a UN News correspondent in the embattled enclave.
Some 21 months have passed since the 7 October armed attacks on Israel which sparked the current brutal conflict.
Thousands have died and much of Gaza has been laid to waste, but life must continue, according to the correspondent, who is remaining anonymous for security reasons.
“Those who live here in Gaza don’t need long explanations to understand the meaning of this war.
It is enough to listen for a few minutes: Planes buzz incessantly overhead, and airstrikes silence everything except fear which, although invisible, fills every space between our tents and seeps into our bodies.
A young boy is rescued after he was caught in an attack on a school shelter.
At night, there’s absolute darkness except for the flashes of bombing.
We sleep knowing that waking up is not guaranteed.
Every morning in Gaza is a new attempt to live, and every evening a challenge to survive. This is the harsh reality we live in.
I am one of more than two million Palestinians living under the burden of displacement. I document stories of war and despair while experiencing their full bitterness.
Since our home was destroyed in November 2023, the tent has become our safety. My family, once part of my private world, is now part of the stories I share with the world.
Here, life is simple and tragic.
Sleeping on the hard ground, cooking over firewood and the exhausting pursuit of a morsel of bread are no longer options, but a way of life imposed by the cruelty of war.
In the face of my eldest son, who is not yet 14, I see a reflection of a war that has stolen his childhood and imposed burdens on him greater than his years.
He has become an expert at water distribution routes, haggling for bread and carrying heavy gallons of water. I feel boundless pride in his courage, yet simultaneously a painful sense of powerlessness because I can’t protect him from what’s happening around us.
Oasis of hope
My wife is trying to create an oasis of hope for our other children. My two eldest daughters continue to learn online when the internet is intermittently working and to read whatever books are available.
My youngest daughter draws on worn pieces of cardboard while my youngest son, who is four, has no memory of anything other than the sound of explosions.
We stand helpless in the face of his innocent questions. There are no schools, no education, only desperate attempts to keep the brightness of childhood alive in them, in the face of a brutal reality.
More than 625,000 children in Gaza have been deprived of an education.
This is due to the destruction of schools and the lack of a safe environment in which to learn.
The future of an entire generation is threatened.
UN News
A drawing depicts people dying as they try to access food from a truck in Gaza.
Bearing witness
I work alongside other journalists. We wander between hospitals, streets and shelters.
We carry our journalistic equipment not only to document events, but also to be a voice for those whose voices have been silenced.
We film a child suffering from severe malnutrition, listen to the story of a man who has lost everything and witness the tears of a woman unable to provide food for her children.
We document a scene which is repeated daily: Thousands of people rush to reach a flour truck. They run after the trucks, collecting the last grains of flour from the ground.
They don’t care about danger as the hope of getting their hands on a loaf of bread is more precious than life.
Each time, casualties fall along the convoys’ routes and militarised distribution points.
We walk the streets, alert to every sound, as if we’re waiting for the end with every turn we make.
There’s no longer time for surprises or sadness, only constant tension and anxiety that has become part of the survivors’ DNA here.
This is the reality that cameras don’t capture, but it is the daily truth we try to explain to the world.
A WHO worker assesses a destroyed hospital in northern Gaza.
Tears of UN colleagues
We document the efforts of the United Nations and its various organizations.
I see staff sleeping in their cars to be closer to the crossings, and I see our UN colleagues crying as they listen to the stories of my fellow Gazans.
There is not enough aid. The crossings open and close abruptly, and some areas are deprived of supplies for days.
The western areas of Gaza City are overcrowded. Tents are spread out on every corner, on the sidewalks and among the rubble of destroyed homes, in dire conditions.
Empty markets
The value of the local currency has evaporated. Those with money in their bank accounts pay fees of up to 50 per cent to withdraw it, only to find themselves facing nearly empty markets. Whatever is available is being sold at exorbitant prices.
Vegetables are scarce, and when available, a kilogramme can cost more than $30. Fruit and meat are a distant memory.
The health system is in a state of complete collapse as 85 per cent of Gaza’s hospitals are no longer functioning and most dialysis and chemotherapy services have stopped.
Medications for chronic diseases are unavailable. I am unable to secure medicine for my parents, who suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, and there is no hope of surgery which could save my brother’s arm, which was injured in an airstrike.
A young boy carries a water bottle through an area where people are living in tents.
Witness to everything
Sometimes, I feel caught between two identities, the journalist documenting the suffering and the human experiencing it.
But, perhaps this is where the strength of our journalistic mission from the Gaza Strip lies: to be a voice from the heart of the tragedy, to convey to the world the reality of what is happening on a daily basis.
Every day in Gaza poses a new question:
Will we survive?
Will our children return from their search for water?
Will the war end?
Will the crossings be opened so aid can be delivered?
From here, we will continue, because untold stories die and because every child, woman and man in Gaza deserves to have their voice heard.
According to the United Nations, Israel kills about 28 Palestinian children daily in Gaza, the equivalent of an entire classroom, amid intensive bombardment and a blockade on aid.
“Death by bombardments. Death by malnutrition and starvation. Death by lack of aid and vital services,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a post on X on Tuesday.
“In Gaza, an average of 28 children a day – the size of a classroom – have been killed.”
The agency stressed that children in Gaza are in urgent need of food, clean water, medicine and protection, adding: “More than anything, they need a ceasefire, NOW.”
Death by bombardments. Death by malnutrition and starvation. Death by lack of aid and vital services. In Gaza, an average of 28 children a day – the size of a classroom – have been killed.
Gaza's children need food, water, medicine and protection. More than anything, they need a… pic.twitter.com/7QIQQ6IAoG
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry on Monday, Israel has killed more than 18,430 children, one child every hour, since the start of the genocide in Gaza. At least 60,933 Palestinians have been killed and 150,027 others wounded since October 7, 2023.
“Gaza is a graveyard for children today and for their dreams,” Ahmad Alhendawi, regional director of the NGO Save the Children, said. “This is an inescapable living nightmare for every child in Gaza … This is a generation that is growing up thinking that the world has abandoned them, that the world has turned its back on them.”
According to the Ministry, at least 188 people have died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, including 94 children and infants, as Israel continues to block aid from entering the enclave, including food and medicine as per the Quds News Network.
Israeli embassy staff in Greece have been evacuated from their homes in Athens. The decision follows protests and rising anger over Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
A senior Israeli security official confirmed the evacuation to Israel Hayom. The official cited “the situation in Greece” as the reason.
Public outrage is growing. Greek citizens are calling for an end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.
A major protest movement, March to Gaza, declared August 10 a national day of action. Demonstrations will take place across Greek islands and tourist hotspots.
In a statement, March to Gaza said:
“The Greek people will not remain silent in the face of genocide committed by Israel with the support of the West and the Greek government.”
The movement urged citizens to turn islands, beaches, mountain peaks, and shelters into spaces of solidarity.
The statement also condemned efforts to turn Greece into a safe haven for those who support or participate in the massacre in Palestine.
Tensions spiked after Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, attacked Athens Mayor Haris Doukas. Katz accused the mayor of not doing enough to protect the city from peaceful protesters, whom he called “organized minorities”. He also claimed Doukas made Israeli tourists feel unsafe.
Mayor Doukas responded sharply on social media:
“We don’t take lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children standing in food lines.”
He added that Athens has always opposed violence and racism.
For weeks, anti-genocide protests have spread across Greek islands. In Syros, protesters blocked the Israeli cruise ship Crown Iris from docking. Several protests were also reported across the country according to the Quds News Network.
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