TWO more Palestinians, including a weeks-old baby, have succumbed to starvation, director of al-Shifa Hospital tells Al Jazeera, as UN says thousands in Gaza on the “verge of catastrophic hunger”.
At least 116 Palestinians, including 38 people near food aid sites in Rafah, killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today.
Meanwhile, Hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza are taking a crucial end-of-secondary-school exam organised by the besieged enclave’s Ministry of Education in the hope of entering university studies.
Earlier this month, the ministry announced Saturday’s exam, which will be the first since Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October 2023.
The ministry confirmed that about 1,500 students are registered to take the exam, which will be conducted electronically using specialised software, adding that all necessary technical preparations have been carried out to ensure smooth administration.
Some students are sitting the online exam at home, while others are taking it at venues depending on the region they are in, with safety considerations in mind, given the daily Israeli bombardment.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah, stressed that for Palestinian students, the exam is a critical gateway to higher education, scholarships and a future beyond the Israeli blockade.
He said: “Even in a warzone, with no classrooms, no books and barely any internet, Gaza’s students are showing up, logging in and sitting their final exam, refusing to let war erase their future.”
After the war started, the education of many students in Gaza has been put on hold, and the results of Saturday’s exam will allow them to continue their studies at university.
Many should have been at university by now, but remained at the high school level due to the war, as Israeli attacks have devastated Gaza’s education system, along with the rest of the territory’s civilian infrastructure.
In response, Gaza’s Education Ministry has launched an online platform, the first of its kind in Gaza to enable high school seniors to take their final exam.
“Students have downloaded the app to take their exam, but they face many challenges,” Morad al-Agha, the exams director of the Central Gaza Governorate, told Al Jazeera.
“We have raised these concerns with the ministry to make sure they’re resolved, so students can sit for their exams without disruption.”
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.