Gaza’s visually and hearing-impaired children miss school due to Israel war

Gaza City – With the help of his father, 13-year-old Kenan al-Sabaa attempts to adjust his hearing aid, which has malfunctioned. The plastic tubing and rubber ear mould on the device need fixing, but these parts and the depleted batteries are no longer available due to Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip.

Before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza started in October 2023, Kenan attended the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, which provided specialist teaching and opportunities to communicate with other hearing-impaired children.

But Atfaluna’s building in Gaza City was partially levelled during the war and quickly turned into an overcrowded shelter for displaced people, an example of the widespread destruction of infrastructure in Gaza. This includes the educational institutions disabled children rely upon.

Israeli attacks also forced Kenan’s family to flee to Gaza City’s Jalaa Street. Atfaluna has since set up temporary learning spaces, and Kenan has access to one near where his family now lives. But his father, Tamer al-Sabaa, said the interruptions to his learning during the war have left his son far behind in his studies.

He did not attend school at all during the first year of the war, and now attends classes only for a few hours a week, which Tamer says is not enough given the time he has lost at school during the war.

But Tamer fears that if Israel resumes large-scale attacks – an October 2025 “ceasefire” reduced the number of attacks but did not stop them – he will be forced to stop Kenan from attending.

“These few hours do not cover or repair the massive educational gap and academic decline my son experienced during the war,” Tamer said. “He is in dire need of restoring his equipped educational environment and the specialised care that was stripped away from him.”

“The school operates only three days a week, and for limited hours not exceeding two hours a day,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Being deaf makes Kenan’s movements fraught with danger, as he cannot hear the sounds of explosions, warning signals, or communicate with those around him.”

As a result, Tamer and his wife had to guide Kenan through unfamiliar neighbourhoods to help him learn about his surroundings.

Kenan can now reach school independently, but his safety is always a concern for his parents.

Little help available

The difficulties facing Kenan highlight the effect of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, on disabled children in the enclave.

Fadel Kuraz, a sign language interpreter and disability rights advocate with Atfaluna, said the war has increased hearing-related injuries and severely weakened the services available to children who need support.

“What we are experiencing today in the Gaza Strip represents an unprecedented health and humanitarian setback, and a real catastrophe unlike anything we have seen before,” Kuraz told Al Jazeera.

“To grasp the scale of the tragedy, the baseline number of persons with hearing disabilities registered before October 2023 was around 20,000 people. Today, according to field assessments, approximately 35,000 new individuals … have been added, having suffered total or partial hearing loss due to … explosions.”

Kuraz describes shortages of hearing aids, batteries, ear moulds, and spare parts, alongside major obstacles to specialist hearing tests and treatments. Children also face difficulties accessing visual learning materials because of electricity and communications outages, he said.

“The suffering does not stop at material needs. A deaf child suffers high levels of fear, stress and complex trauma without the ability to verbally express what is on their mind,” Kuraz told Al Jazeera.

Hearing-impaired children in Gaza are more often than not living in overcrowded tents or shelters which lack privacy or a proper space to do homework and study.

“I emphasise that responding to the needs of persons with hearing disabilities is no longer a secondary choice or a luxury; it is an urgent humanitarian necessity,” Kuraz adds. “It requires immediate intervention to break the siege, allow the entry of hearing aids, batteries, and spare parts, and establish safe, temporary alternative educational spaces to replace destroyed centres.”

Generation at risk

Children with visual impairments face issues similar to those faced by hearing-impaired children in Gaza, with the few educational facilities once available to them now closed or difficult to access. The materials and items they need to study, such as Braille, are also difficult to procure due to Israel’s siege on Gaza.

Al-Noor school was originally located in Tal al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, but was badly damaged in the genocidal war.

Duaa Omar Basheer worked as an educational counsellor at the al-Noor school for blind students in northern Gaza before the war. She said it was the only public school in Gaza designated for middle and high school students with visual impairments, but was forced to close during the war. Some primary education is available to children through educational centres run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Previously, the school served about 80 pupils from across Gaza, many of whom arrived on dedicated buses, but damaged roads and a lack of suitable transport created further barriers.

Without regular instruction, Basheer fears students could lose their Braille and independent-learning skills, which they have taken years to learn.

“We are facing an entire generation of visually-impaired individuals at risk of illiteracy and academic loss,” Basheer said.

Broken glasses

In the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, Jana Shreim’s mother, Wafaa Shreim, says her 12-year-old daughter, who is legally blind, relies on prescription glasses with high magnification and very strong lenses. But she could still only perceive light, shapes and nearby objects.

Her glasses broke amid the harrowing mass exodus from the Shati camp during Israel’s offensive on the neighbourhood in November 2023. The family tried to fix them with wire, but the lenses were damaged beyond use, and replacement glasses were too expensive.

Since the glasses broke – and with no possibility of replacing them due to the blockade – her vision has deteriorated to the point that she can barely see.

Now, when Jana goes to unfamiliar places, she stumbles and falls. Her mother says she is bullied by other children, and that she experiences pain in her eyes when she tries to focus.

“My daughter now has to identify people by their voices,” Wafaa told Al Jazeera. “Her sister and I now act as her ‘eyes’ at every step and everywhere she goes.”

Before the war, Jana attended the al-Noor centre, travelling there on a dedicated bus service. Her school closed when it was badly damaged in Israeli bombing, leaving Jana without any access to education.

“I am currently trying to teach her at home myself using a Braille writing machine we have, so she doesn’t lose her limited educational skills,” Jana’s mother said. She also cares for another daughter with a visual impairment, making it even more difficult to provide the specialist support they both need.

“I searched extensively and knocked on the doors of many institutions and organisations concerned with visual impairment, but the bitter truth is that … we have been left entirely alone,” she said.

“My only message and wish to all responsible parties is to look at our visually impaired children with mercy: provide them with glasses and medical supplies, and open safe educational and recreational spaces that restore their basic right to life and learning.”