Israel's Destruction of Gaza Education, Cultural Sites Part of Campaign to 'Obliterate Palestinian Life': UN Expert

A report released Tuesday by an independent United Nations commission says that Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 have effectively obliterated the enclave's education system and have caused damage to more than half of all religious and cultural sites there.

The report states that Israeli security forces killed civilians sheltering in schools, and in doing so "committed the crime against humanity of extermination."

A statement from the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel cast Israel's attacks on education, religious, and cultural sites as amounting to "war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination." The commission's report focuses on Gaza but also probed attacks of these types on sites in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in Israel.

"We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza," said Navi Pillay, chair of the commission. "Israel's targeting of the educational, cultural, and religious life of the Palestinian people will harm the present generations and generations to come, hindering their right to self-determination."

In October 2023, Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing over 1,000 people and taking roughly 250 hostages—prompting Israel to carry out a fierce military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Multiple human rights groups have said Israel is guilty of committing genocide or "acts of genocide."

Over 54,000 people in Gaza have been killed since Israel's campaign began, according to local health officials.

According to the report, Israeli security forces have caused damage to over 70% of the educational buildings in Gaza and Israeli attacks have made conditions for education largely impossible. Over 658,000 Gazan students have had no schooling for a year and a half.

The commission also identified several incidents where Israeli forces burned or demolished schools, "many of which were empty at the time," and the committee says it concluded "such conduct was deliberate and unnecessary and constitutes a violation of the principles of necessity, distinction, precaution, and proportionality under international humanitarian law."

The commission found that Israeli security personnel directed airstrikes against "scores" of educational buildings, and even though civilians were inside those buildings during some of the attacks, Israel did not give them any warning or sufficient advance warning of the strikes, according to the report.

The report states that the commission found "significant evidence" that Israeli security forces used educational facilities as military bases or staging areas for military activity. The commission found one episode in which Hamas' military wing used a school for military aims.

After probing incidents where education facilities were targeted and the attack resulted in civilian casualties, the commission accused Israeli security forces of committing war crimes such as "directing attacks on civilians," and others.

When it comes to attacks on cultural and religious sites, those attacks have "a cascading effect and deeply affects intangible cultural elements, such as religious and cultural practices, memories, and history."

In four out of 10 incidents investigated by the commission related to attacks on cultural and religious sites in Gaza, Israeli security forces said they had "targeted a military objective located within the site" but did not give the commission evidence they could examine to verify that claim, according to the report.

The commission says that Israeli security forces were aware or should have been aware of the location and significance of these sites in Gaza and should have planned their operations with the aim of making sure they were not harmed. "The commission found in relation to all cultural sites investigated that Israeli security forces failed to take special care to avoid damage and protect those sites and their contents," the report states.

In this realm, too, the commission accuses Israeli security forces of several war crimes, such as "intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments" and "destroying the enemy's property without justification that necessitates such destruction."

The report will be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council on June 17, 2025.

A previous report from the same body accused Israel of "systematically" using reproductive, sexual, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians since October 7, 2023.