The dire impact on Palestinian schoolchildren from Israel’s offensive on Gaza continues with approximately 39,000 students unable to sit the territory’s General Secondary Examinations (known as the Tawjihi), which were due to start today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports.

On top of the 625,000 students in Gaza who have been out of school since the start of the offensive in October, the destruction of schools and universities, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian students and 378 educational workers killed in Israeli attacks, an estimated 39,000 high school students are being “deprived of the opportunity” to take the examination, the UN said.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, 1,320 students from Gaza who are outside the besieged territory are being supported to take the Tawjihi exams in 29 Arab countries.