(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) CAIRO, Nov 23 (KUNA) -- The 92nd session of the Arab League's Council on Educational Affairs for Palestinian Students, along with the 34th joint meeting with UNRWA education officials, convened Sunday at the League's headquarters to review developments in the educational sector in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine affairs and the Occupied Arab Territories Ambassador Faed Mustafa said the meeting comes amid a highly dangerous situation in Gaza, as the Israeli occupation continues attempts to undermine the ceasefire and slow the entry of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials.
He warned that the Israeli occupation is expanding control lines on the ground in an effort to impose new maps and projects, a move the Arab League rejects. He urged the guarantors of the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement to act swiftly to ensure Israel's commitment and facilitate aid access.
Mustafa noted a serious escalation in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, due to the Israeli occupation's continued settlement expansion, forced displacement, movement restrictions and daily settler attacks supported by occupation forces.
He said the education sector in Palestine was a main target during the Gaza war, with 93 pct of the educational infrastructure destroyed, 70 pct of UNRWA schools hit, and 130 university facilities destroyed, depriving more than 750,000 students of schooling. The West Bank has also seen disruptions due to ongoing raids and settler violence.
Mustafa stressed the importance of sustained Arab and international support for Palestinian education, calling for protecting UNRWA from mounting restrictions, including Israeli occupation legislation aiming to ban its work and seize its schools in Jerusalem. He affirmed UNRWA remains irreplaceable, especially in Gaza's reconstruction.
Egypt's representative, Mustafa Abdullah, said education is the "first line of defense" for Palestinian identity, affirming that Israeli aggression will not break the Palestinian people's will.
He reiterated Egypt's support for an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and for continued backing of the Palestinian education sector.
At the start of the meeting, Egypt ceded the presidency of the session to Palestine's representative, Ambassador Muhannad Al-Aklouk, who said the education sector in Palestine is facing its most difficult stage in modern history.
Al-Aklouk said nearly 19,000 students and more than 1,350 educational staff were killed, with around 500 educational facilities destroyed or damaged. Two academic years have been entirely lost in Gaza, and schooling remains suspended. (end)
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