Rachel Bonham Carter

Six months without pay sparks teachers' strike in Gaza and West Bank


Just days into the start of the new school term most schools in Gaza are closed due to a strike by government workers, including teachers, who haven’t been paid for six months. 750,000 pupils are affected. The strike is open-ended and currently most of the 1,726 public schools in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are either partially or completely closed. At Azzoun Itmeh School for Girls in the Northern West Bank, only 7 out of 22 teachers turned up for work on Sunday. A similar story is being played out across the region with teachers struggling to get by. Around 70 per cent of all students in oPt are affected by the strikes.