In Gaza, where the echoes of conflict dominate daily life, education has become both a casualty and a symbol of resistance. Through shattered classrooms, broken internet connections, and the constant fear of displacement or death, students and teachers are striving to keep learning alive even when everything around them falls apart.

Here, education is no longer a pathway to opportunity; it is a fight for survival. Since the escalation of the genocidal war in October 2023, schools and universities across Gaza have closed their doors, been bombed and destroyed, and become shelters for displaced Palestinians. The lives, dreams, and mental health of thousands of students and educators have been transformed.

All of Gaza’s universities have been leveled by airstrikes. More than 85 percent of schools in Gaza have been completely or partially destroyed, according to U.N. experts. According to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, three university presidents and over 95 university deans and professors, including 68 holding professor titles, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Despite the destruction and genocide in Gaza, education is still resistance. And every student and teacher who dares to dream is a symbol of unbreakable hope.

Here are four of their stories.

Serene Nasrallah, an assistant lecturer of English at the Islamic University of Gaza, says the war has reduced her role to that of a “mediator” and has redefined what it means to teach.

The most impactful challenge is lack of power and internet all over the Strip as she is teaching passive online courses. “I can’t reach my students easily,” and even communicating with fellow university staff has become difficult.

She feels she shifted from being a lecturer to being only a coordinator between the course and the students “I just share slides. I can’t explain. I can’t engage. I use my phone to manage everything — even grading.”