The latest Israeli aggression in Gaza damaged at least 49 educational facilities, disrupting the education of 25,976 Palestinian students.
The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) is supporting Palestinian youth’s skillset under a new agreement with Health, Development, Information, and Policy Institute (HDIP) signed on Sunday.
In a Twitter statement, the Qatari body said that the three-year agreement contributes to HDIP’s Right to Education project, targeting around 10,000 students in “vulnerable areas in Palestine”.
The project will provide much-needed training to support Palestinian youth’s skillset to benefit their community while increasing their employment opportunities.
According to Qatar’s state news agency (QNA), the project will cover at least 384 hours of training annually for the duration of the agreement.
“At these times, development projects in the education sector need to be adopted in Palestine to help their communities grow and prosper,” QNA reported, though it did not mention the targeted areas nor where the agreement was signed.
The move comes under Qatar’s efforts to provide Palestinians living under the ongoing Israeli occupation with education and training.
Last month, Education Above All (EAA) Foundation announced plans to provide 339 of the “most marginalised youth” in Palestine with scholarships.
The EAA has been involved in Palestine over the past decade and has worked in close collaboration with QFFD.
Following the Israeli hostilities in Gaza in 2014, QFFD pledged $40 million to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 93 educational institutions in the illegally occupied country, including the first child friendly school in Palestine.
In 2009, the EAA established the Al Fakhoora educational programme following a deadly Israeli bombardment of Gaza, which killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and destroyed thousands of buildings.
The programme rebuilt educational facilities damaged by the attacks while providing Palestinian children and youth with much-needed psychosocial support following the traumatic event.
To date, the programme has provided 1,238 higher education and empowerment scholarships to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
Since 2007, Israel has attempted to isolate Gaza after subjecting it to a blockade that turned the city into what has been widely described as “the largest open-air prison”.
Between 8-to-13 May, Israel waged another deadly war on Gaza, where it killed 33 Palestinians, including children.
The five-day brutal aggression ended following intensive discussions between Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations.
Last week, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the Israeli assault completely destroyed more than 50 housing units.
According to the UN, the latest aggression damaged at least 49 educational facilities, disrupting the education of 25,976 students.
