TorontoSusan

The Failure to Protect Gaza's Children: 12-year-old Mennah, the daughter of my friend Na'ama, was denied entry today to a makeshift educational tent in Gaza's humanitarian zone because teachers deemed her clothing insufficiently "modest" and demanded she wear a full head-to-toe covering. When she refused, they allegedly accused her of lacking morals and good behavior, then punished her by forcing her to remain outside in the sun until her mother could be contacted. This is not education. It is coercion, humiliation, and ideological indoctrination imposed on a child. It is especially alarming that such spaces may be supported, directly or indirectly, by international humanitarian funding provided by Western governments and taxpayers. No child should be excluded from learning, shamed, or disciplined for failing to conform to extremist interpretations of religious dress. These educational tents must be subject to rigorous monitoring, safeguarding standards, and independent oversight to prevent the abuse, neglect, and radicalization of children. Gaza's children need safe learning environments that promote dignity, tolerance, and opportunity, not fear, intimidation, or ideological conformity. There is little hope for meaningful educational recovery if children remain exposed to actors who prioritize dogma over their welfare. The international community should focus on creating secure, professionally supervised educational spaces with clear child-protection standards and accountability mechanisms, ensuring that every child can learn free from coercion and abuse. Shame on any government, NGO, aid agency, or donor that funds educational programs without demanding transparency, oversight, and robust child-protection safeguards. Humanitarian assistance should protect children, not enable environments where their rights and dignity can be violated.

REVEALED: The scandal surrounding Gaza's failed winterization efforts lays bare a grim reality: Hamas obstructed attempts to protect Palestinian civilians before the devastating winter storms that flooded tens of thousands of tents. Palestinian Authority employees inside Gaza have reported that professionals from the Ministries of Public Works and Relief Affairs were intimidated, summoned, and coerced by Hamas into signing pledges not to undertake humanitarian projects without the group's approval. According to their accounts, those who defied Hamas risked so-called "field justice," including beatings and worse. Several officials, including Najla Hammad, Ihab Al-Bahtiti, Khaled Abu Safiya, Wiam Aboul-Nasr, Dr. Adnan Hamouda, and Ahmed Abu Zaiter, have publicly stated that efforts to build more durable fiberglass housing and improve conditions for displaced civilians were blocked. Another example was a proposal that was put forward to demolish several heavily damaged towers which were at risk of collapse from rainwater after extensive bombardment. According to those involved, Hamas blocked the removal of the “Bank of Palestine Tower” in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, reportedly arguing that it would "collapse from the rain anyway." The terrorist group did not show any concern for the civilian lives that would be lost when the tower eventually collapses on its own, because it wants dead Palestinians and news of tragedy to keep Gaza in the news cycle and to gain global sympathy, hoping for more incoming resources and donations for the Strip’s humanitarian and reconstruction needs that it could siphon. Additionally, Hamas has also been accused of obstructing construction projects intended to create safer communities for displaced Gazans in southern Gaza, prioritizing political control over humanitarian relief. This is a reminder that Gaza's suffering is not only a consequence of war. It is also the result of a fascist and ruthless governing power that repeatedly places its own interests above the welfare of the people it claims to represent. The same terror group that helped bring catastrophe upon Gaza continues to obstruct efforts to mitigate its consequences. As floodwaters sweep through displacement camps and families endure another winter in misery, the question is unavoidable: how many Palestinian lives could have been spared had Hamas allowed humanitarian, housing, and reconstruction efforts to proceed unimpeded?