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More than 800 Palestinian teachers have been killed and over 3,300 injured since Israel launched its war in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
The ministry issued the figures in a statement on Sunday ahead of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, saying teachers across the occupied Palestinian territories were engaged in a “real struggle for survival” while trying to protect the right to education, Anadolu reported.
The ministry said Israel’s military operations since October 2023 have severely disrupted the education sector in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. More than 170 teachers also remain detained under what it described as harsh conditions.
Movement restrictions and harassment at hundreds of checkpoints have further intensified teachers’ daily hardships, particularly in areas including Masafer Yatta south of Hebron, Al-Mughayyir village in the central West Bank, the Jordan Valley and areas designated as “Area C”.
Under the 1995 Oslo II agreement, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C. Area A is under Palestinian civil and security control, Area B is under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control, while Area C, covering about 60% of the West Bank, remains under full Israeli control.
The ministry also said teachers were facing severe financial pressure. Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues has undermined the financial and psychological stability of teachers and other public-sector employees, it said.
Known as clearance revenues, the funds are taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority on imported goods. Under the 1994 Paris Protocol, Israel is responsible for collecting and transferring the revenues to the Palestinian Authority.
The ministry said Israel began deducting money from the revenues in 2019 and later halted transfers, worsening the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis and making it difficult to pay public-sector workers in full and maintain essential services.
Clearance revenues account for about 56% of the Palestinian Authority’s total public revenues, according to the ministry. Their withholding has therefore posed a major challenge to salaries, public services and other government functions.
The ministry called on the international community, the United Nations and education and human rights organisations to take urgent action to protect teachers and students and end violations against them.
It also urged teachers’ and education unions worldwide to pressure authorities for the release of detained teachers and the transfer of withheld Palestinian revenues.
Source : Anadolu