In a small tent overshadowed by the sound of nearby gunfire, seven-year-old Tulin prepares for her first day of school in two years.
For most children, this would be a moment of excitement. For Tulin and her mother, it is a chapter of terror.
The relentless Israeli war has destroyed the vast majority of Gaza’s educational infrastructure, forcing families to create makeshift “tent schools” in dangerous proximity to Israeli forces — an area demarcated by Israel as the “yellow zone” west of the separation line, often just a few metres away from danger.
“Until my daughter gets to school, I honestly walk with my heart in my hand,” Tulin’s mother told Al Jazeera correspondent Shady Shamieh.
“Many times, I find myself involuntarily following her until she reaches the school. I feel there is something [dangerous], but I want her to learn,” she added. “If not for this situation, she would be in second grade now. But we are determined.”
