Back to school in Gaza after Israel offensive

November 24, 2012 at 9:49 a.m. | Updated November 24, 2012 at 9:56 a.m.

by The Associated Press

Palestinian schoolchildren walk in debris by a damaged school in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Schools in Gaza opened Saturday for the first time since the truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years. The school was damaged when Israeli forces struck on a nearby building.
Palestinian schoolchildren walk in debris by a damaged school in Gaza City, Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012. Schools in Gaza opened Saturday for the first time since the truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years. The school was damaged when Israeli forces struck on a nearby building.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of children are returning to school in the Gaza Strip after eight days of cross-border fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the coastal enclave.

Israel carried out about 1,500 airstrikes against Hamas-linked targets in Gaza, while militants fired about as many rockets into Israel.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that 156 Palestinians were killed, including 33 children and minors under 18. Rockets from Gaza killed six Israelis. The group says most of more than 1,000 wounded Gazans were civilians. Dozens of Israelis were also hurt.

Gaza's schools reopened Saturday. Adnan Abu Hassna, spokesman for a U.N. aid agency, said tens of thousands of students at 245 U.N.-run schools spent the first day talking about their experiences during the fighting.

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