Abed al-Qara and Muhammad al-Fajem are school friends from Bani Suhaila, located east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The 10-year-old fifth grade students had their education disrupted following the eruption of Israel's brutal military campaign on Gaza, which has turned much of the besieged coastal enclave into a wasteland, with buildings reduced to rubble and dust. Schools and other educational facilities have also been hit, affecting the lives of Palestinian children across the strip. Children make up about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population. Walking through their destroyed school grounds and bullet-riddled classrooms, the boys remember what their life was like before Israel ramped up its aggression just over six months ago. “We used to play in the playground. They would bring us the toys. We would go out during recess. We would go to the classroom and walk around,” al-Qara said. “How are we going to study now?”
