Gaza's 2026 graduating class exams amid war-torn schools and daily survival challenges
Despite destroyed classrooms and constant insecurity, 37,698 Gaza students sat for the June 20, 2026 Tawhidi exam using improvised settings and electronic formats.
Students born in 2008 in Gaza grew up amid repeated assaults, blockades and the constant hum of drones, entering school during the 2014 war and preparing for their final Tawhidi exam under the shadow of the 2023 devastation. With schools reduced to shelters, classrooms set up in tents, and desks made from cardboard, pupils relied on phones as libraries and searched for reliable electricity to complete the electronic exam on June 20, 2026.
A total of 37,698 Gaza students participated, alongside 51,499 in the West Bank, despite the lack of stable infrastructure. The conflict has killed 20,647 students since October 7, 2023, and on June 22 a student named Raghad Hussein Ashour was killed by an Israeli strike while returning from the exam. Individual stories, such as displaced student Suwar Mohammad searching for a café with internet, illustrate the daily obstacles faced by the graduating class.
Why it matters
It shows how war disrupts education and futures for an entire generation in Gaza.
How this story developed
- Aug 27 Israeli airstrikes kill three Palestinians in Gaza amid ongoing ceasefire
- Sep 1 Israeli troops demolished several Palestinian houses in the West Bank while settlers attacked the village of Burqa, coinciding with EU ministers discussing sanctions on settlement goods.
- Sep 1 Katz confirmed a senior Hamas security official was arrested.
- Sep 3 The UK announced it will roll out measures targeting the E1 settlement scheme.
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