GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The marks of the last war with Israel are everywhere at the Subhi Abu Karsh School for Girls in Gaza's Shajaiya neighborhood. Large holes from Israeli shelling riddle the classrooms, and students have tried to fill them with nylon bags to stop the cold winter wind from coming in.
But the cold is difficult to keep out, as Fidaa Marzouk, a ninth grade student, would testify, freezing in her chair as she tries to focus. “We are studying in these freezing cold classrooms that lack the most basic prevention, protection and safety equipment,” Marzouk told Al-Monitor.