Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Franciscan friar and director of the schools of the Custody of the Holy Land, has issued a stark warning about the deepening educational and humanitarian crisis
Newsroom (22/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) In war-torn Gaza, the new academic year marks a grim milestone: the third consecutive year without functioning schools. Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Franciscan friar and director of the schools of the Custody of the Holy Land, has issued a stark warning about the deepening educational and humanitarian crisis. In a video message to Vatican media, he declared, “The third year without school has begun in Gaza. All the school buildings have been destroyed, and they are no longer places of learning and growth.”
Since the escalation of conflict on October 7, 2023, Gaza’s schools—once sanctuaries of knowledge and opportunity—have been repurposed as makeshift shelters for families fleeing relentless Israeli airstrikes. However, Father Faltas emphasized that even these refuges have not been spared. “Schools have been used as shelters,” he said, his voice heavy with sorrow, “but since even these places of refuge have been reduced to rubble, there is now neither education nor the possibility of safety.”
The toll on Gaza’s children is staggering. According to UNICEF, over 18,000 minors have been killed in the past 23 months of conflict—an average of 28 children per day. Palestinian health authorities report that more than 42,000 children have sustained injuries, many life-altering. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities estimates that at least 21,000 children are now permanently disabled. Countless others remain missing, presumed trapped or buried beneath the debris of collapsed buildings.
Father Faltas, speaking with visible emotion, underscored the profound loss beyond physical casualties. “The children of Gaza have been denied the most basic rights of childhood: physical and mental development, play, education, dreams, a future,” he said. The destruction of educational infrastructure has left an entire generation without access to learning, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees Christian institutions in the region, has long operated schools that served as beacons of hope for Gaza’s youth. These institutions, now reduced to ruins, once provided not only academic instruction but also a sense of normalcy and community. Their loss represents a broader erosion of stability for Gaza’s children, who face an uncertain future amid ongoing violence.
International organizations have repeatedly called for a ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid to address the crisis. However, with schools obliterated and basic services in collapse, the path to recovery remains fraught. Father Faltas’s message serves as both a lament and a call to action, urging the global community to recognize the plight of Gaza’s youngest victims and work toward restoring their right to a childhood.
As the conflict grinds on, the absence of education risks creating a lost generation, deprived not only of safety and shelter but also of the tools to rebuild their lives. For now, Gaza’s children wait, their dreams buried beneath the rubble alongside their schools.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from L’Osservatore Romano
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