Gaza's Visually and Hearing-Impaired Children Are Missing School as the War Destroys Specialist Education

In Gaza City, 13-year-old Kenan al-Sabaa tries, with his father's help, to adjust his malfunctioning hearing aid. The plastic tubing and rubber ear mould need fixing, but these parts and the depleted batteries are no longer available due to Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip.

Before the war 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.

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, including the educational institutions disabled children rely upon.

Israeli attacks 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.

Tamer said Kenan did not attend school at all during the first year of the war, and now attends classes only a few hours a week. ‘The school operates only three days a week, and for limited hours not exceeding two hours a day,’ he said. ‘These few hours do not cover or repair the massive educational gap and academic decline my son experienced during the war. He is in dire need of restoring his equipped educational environment and the specialised care that was stripped away from him.’

Tamer also 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 altogether.

Being deaf makes Kenan's movements fraught with danger, as he cannot hear the sounds of explosions or warning signals, or communicate with those around him. His parents had to guide him through unfamiliar neighbourhoods to help him learn his surroundings. Kenan can now reach school independently, but his safety is always a concern for his parents.

Kenan's difficulties highlight the effect of the war on disabled children in the enclave. The war has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the report.

Fadel Kuraz, a sign language interpreter and disability rights advocate with Atfaluna, said the war has increased hearing-related injuries and severely weakened services. The baseline number of people with hearing disabilities registered before October 2023 was around 20,000; today, according to field assessments, approximately 35,000 new individuals have been added, having suffered total or partial hearing loss due to explosions, he said.

Kuraz described 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. A deaf child, he said, suffers high levels of fear, stress and complex trauma without the ability to verbally express what is on their mind.

‘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 said. ‘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.’ Most hearing-impaired children, he noted, are living in overcrowded tents or shelters lacking privacy or a proper space to study.

Children with visual impairments face similar issues. Al-Noor school, originally located in Tal al-Hawa, southwest of Gaza City, was badly damaged and forced to close. Duaa Omar Basheer, an educational counsellor there before the war, said it was the only public school in Gaza designated for middle and high school students with visual impairments. Some primary education is available through centres run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Basheer said the school previously served about 80 pupils from across Gaza, many arriving on dedicated buses, but damaged roads and a lack of suitable transport created further barriers. Without regular instruction, she fears students could lose the Braille and independent-learning skills they took years to learn. ‘We are facing an entire generation of visually-impaired individuals at risk of illiteracy and academic loss,’ she said.

In the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, 12-year-old Jana Shreim is legally blind. Her mother, Wafaa Shreim, says Jana's prescription glasses, with high magnification and very strong lenses, broke amid the 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, Jana's vision has deteriorated to the point that she can barely see and now identifies people by their voices. ‘My daughter now has to identify people by their voices,’ Wafaa said. ‘Her sister and I now act as her “eyes” at every step.’ Wafaa is teaching Jana at home herself using a Braille writing machine so she does not lose her limited educational skills, while also caring for another daughter with a visual impairment. Her plea: ‘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.’