Children in Gaza Face Gunfire on the Way to and at School: 14-Year-Old Mohammed Killed in Deir el-Balah

Mohammed Hamad, 14, was killed in an Israeli strike on his way home from school in Deir el-Balah, Gaza. On October 17 he had finished classes at a makeshift school and was walking home through the al-Baraka neighbourhood with his 10-year-old brother, Abdullah, when a strike targeted the road they were travelling along. Mohammed was killed along with another man. Abdullah survived.

Mohammed was the third child of Riyad Hamad, 44, an eighth-grade student among the top pupils in his class. Speaking from his family tent in Deir el-Balah, Hamad said Mohammed was not just his son, he was his friend, and that the boy had been doing very well at school.

Riyad Hamad said the loss has also left a deep mark on Abdullah, who now fears losing his father too. The two brothers used to go to school together every day and come back together. Now Abdullah cannot come to terms with having to go on his own, and he has become very afraid of going to school.

The academic year resumed in Gaza on September 19, after nearly three years of disruptions caused by Israel's war. The gradual return of children to school, even in makeshift classrooms and tents, had offered families some hope of restoring a sense of normality. But Israeli air raids and sniper fire have continued since the school year resumed.

Since a ceasefire was established last October for Gaza, Israel has killed at least 1,574 Palestinians and injured 5,687 in Gaza, according to the enclave's Ministry of Health figures cited in the report.

In a statement last Sunday, the Ministry of Education said ten children aged from six to 16 and a teacher were killed between October 18 and 24. Two girls were wounded during morning assembly at Muradiya School in Jabalia on October 21. Five students were also injured, some critically, in an attack on the Islamic University campus in Gaza City. The ministry called for urgent international action to protect students, schools and universities in Gaza.

The risks are particularly high for schools located near the so-called Yellow Line, a point that divided Gaza's territory between Israeli and Palestinian control as part of the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. According to the United Nations, the line has moved westward to give Israel control of more than 65 percent of Gaza, up from the 53 percent agreed upon a year ago. At least 66 Palestinian children have been killed close to the Yellow Line.

On October 21, Suad Abd Rabbo, a fourth-grade student, went to school carrying her bag and books. Not long afterwards, her older sister rushed home shouting that Suad had been shot. Her mother, Aliaa Abd Rabbo, said she ran out barefoot and found Suad bleeding, crying and screaming. The bullet struck Suad above the knee and lodged in a sensitive area close to her nerves and tendons.

At hospital, doctors warned that trying to remove the bullet could cause paralysis. They operated on Suad but were still unable to extract the bullet, which remains in her leg. Suad has since been discharged and returned to her tent, where she remains unable to walk or move around. She needs surgery abroad to fully recover, but with Israel tightly controlling exit and entry from Gaza, her prospects of proper treatment are remote.

Another girl was also injured on the same day as Suad as students at Muradiya School were preparing for assembly at about 10:30am, the school's principal, Naim Aloush, said. The girls had formed two lines when one suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, and another pupil nearby, Amina Khader, a fifth-grade student, sustained a minor injury to her abdomen. Teachers rushed to the girls. Parents rushed to collect their children, and the school saw a marked increase in absenteeism in the days that followed.

Aloush said the school is in the al-Ghubari area, west of Jabalia al-Balad, consisting of 20 educational tents and serving about 1,000 pupils in the surrounding community, close to the Yellow Line. Stray bullets or projectiles from Israeli artillery, quadcopter drones and snipers still regularly hit the school, she said. Every day, she said, she comes to school afraid that one of her pupils or a member of the teaching staff might be hit.

Amina's father, Khaled Khader, said he rushed to the school after hearing that Amina had been injured and carried his daughter to a nearby clinic. Amina was in shock, broke down and started screaming, he said. She has since been afraid to return to school. Her family tried taking her back once, but she left early, unable to bear the sound of the gunfire. He said the family is confused about what to do: keep their children away from school and deprive them of their education, or send them out knowing that they could be targeted at any moment.