Latest news with #MAXAR
Japan Today
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites set up 'cat-and-mouse' hunt for missing uranium
By Francois Murphy and John Irish FILE PHOTO: A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran June 22, 2025. MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo The U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iranian nuclear sites creates a conundrum for U.N. inspectors in Iran: how can you tell if enriched uranium stocks, some of them near weapons grade, were buried beneath the rubble or had been secretly hidden away? Following last month's attacks on three of Iran's top nuclear sites - at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan - President Donald Trump said the facilities had been "obliterated" by U.S. munitions, including bunker-busting bombs. But the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Tehran's nuclear program, has said it's unclear exactly what damage was sustained at Fordow, a plant buried deep inside a mountain that produced the bulk of Iran's most highly enriched uranium. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said it was highly likely the sensitive centrifuges used to enrich uranium inside Fordow were badly damaged. It's far less clear whether Iran's 9 tons of enriched uranium - more than 400 kg of it enriched to close to weapons grade - were destroyed. Western governments are scrambling to determine what's become of it. Reuters spoke to more than a dozen current and former officials involved in efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program who said the bombing may have provided the perfect cover for Iran to make its uranium stockpiles disappear and any IAEA investigation would likely be lengthy and arduous. Olli Heinonen, previously the IAEA's top inspector from 2005 to 2010, said the search will probably involve complicated recovery of materials from damaged buildings as well as forensics and environmental sampling, which take a long time. "There could be materials which are inaccessible, distributed under the rubble or lost during the bombing," said Heinonen, who dealt extensively with Iran while at the IAEA and now works at the Stimson Center think-tank in Washington. Iran's more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity - a short step from the roughly 90% of weapons grade - are enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Even a fraction of that left unaccounted for would be a grave concern for Western powers that believe Iran is at least keeping the option of nuclear weapons open. There are indications Iran may have moved some of its enriched uranium before it could be struck. IAEA chief Grossi said Iran informed him on June 13, the day of Israel's first attacks, that it was taking measures to protect its nuclear equipment and materials. While it did not elaborate, he said that suggests it was moved. A Western diplomat involved in the dossier, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said most of the enriched uranium at Fordow would appear to have been moved days in advance of the attacks, "almost as if they knew it was coming". Some experts have said a line of vehicles including trucks visible on satellite imagery outside Fordow before it was hit suggests enriched uranium there was moved elsewhere, though U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on June 26 said he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved it. Trump has also dismissed such concerns. In an interview due to air on Sunday with Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures", he insisted the Iranians "didn't move anything." "It's very dangerous to do. It is very heavy - very, very heavy. It's a very hard thing to do," Trump said. "Plus we didn't give much notice because they didn't know we were coming until just, you know, then." The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The State Department referred Reuters to Trump's public remarks. A second Western diplomat said it would be a major challenge to verify the condition of the uranium stockpile, citing a long list of past disputes between the IAEA and Tehran, including Iran's failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. "It'll be a game of cat and mouse." Iran says it has fulfilled all its obligations towards the watchdog. PICTURE BLURRED Before Israel launched its 12-day military campaign aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities, the IAEA had regular access to Iran's enrichment sites and monitored what was inside them around the clock as part of the 191-nation Non-Proliferation Treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, to which Iran is a party. Now, rubble and ash blur the picture. What's more, Iran has threatened to stop working with the IAEA. Furious at the non-proliferation regime's failure to protect it from strikes many countries see as unlawful, Iran's parliament voted on June 25 to suspend cooperation. Tehran says a resolution last month passed by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations paved the way for Israel's attacks, which began the next day, by providing an element of diplomatic cover. The IAEA denies that. Iran has repeatedly denied that it has an active program to develop a nuclear bomb. And U.S. intelligence - dismissed by Trump before the airstrikes - had said there was no evidence Tehran was taking steps toward developing one. However, experts say there is no reason for enriching uranium to 60% for a civilian nuclear program, which can run on less than 5% enrichment. As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its stock of enriched uranium. The IAEA then has to verify Iran's account by means including inspections, but its powers are limited - it inspects Iran's declared nuclear facilities but cannot carry out snap inspections at undeclared locations. Iran has an unknown number of extra centrifuges stored at locations the U.N. nuclear watchdog is unaware of, the IAEA has said, with which it might be able to set up a new or secret enrichment site. That makes hunting down the material that can be enriched further, particularly that closest to bomb grade, all the more important. "Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium may not have been part of the 'mission' but it is a significant part of the proliferation risk - particularly if centrifuges are unaccounted for," Kelsey Davenport of the Washington-based Arms Control Association said on X on Friday. The IAEA can and does receive intelligence from member states, which include the United States and Israel, but says it takes nothing at face value and independently verifies tip-offs. Having pummeled the sites housing the uranium, Israel and the U.S. are seen as the countries most likely to accuse Iran of hiding it or restarting enrichment, officials say. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. CHASING SHADOWS U.N. inspectors' futile hunt for large caches of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which preceded the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, showed the enormous difficulty of verifying foreign powers' assertions about hidden stockpiles of material when there is little tangible information to go on. As in Iraq, inspectors could end up chasing shadows. "If the Iranians come clean with the 400 kg of HEU (highly enriched uranium) then the problem is manageable, but if they don't then nobody will ever be sure what happened to it," a third Western diplomat said. The IAEA, which answers to 180 member states, has said it cannot guarantee Iran's nuclear development is entirely peaceful, but has no credible indications of a coordinated weapons program. The U.S. backed the IAEA's verification and monitoring work and has urged Tehran to ensure its inspectors in the country are safe. It is a long journey from there to accounting for every gram of enriched uranium, the IAEA's standard. The above-ground plant at Natanz, the smaller of the two facilities enriching uranium up to 60 percent, was flattened in the strikes, the IAEA said, suggesting a small portion of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile may have been destroyed. Fordow, Iran's most deeply buried enrichment plant, which was producing the bulk of 60%-enriched uranium, was first seriously hit last weekend when the United States dropped its biggest conventional bombs on it. The damage to its underground halls is unclear. An underground area in Isfahan where much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium was stored was also bombed, causing damage to the tunnel entrances leading to it. The agency has not been able to carry out inspections since Israel's bombing campaign began, leaving the outside world with more questions than answers. Grossi said the conditions at the bombed sites would make it difficult for IAEA inspectors to work there - suggesting it could take time. "There is rubble, there could be unexploded ordnance," he said. Heinonen, the former chief IAEA inspector, said it was vital the agency be transparent in real time about what its inspectors have been able to verify independently, including any uncertainties, and what remained unknown. "Member states can then make their own risk assessments," he said. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
CNN
29-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Education in ruins: Gaza's children on losing their right to learn
Thirteen-year-old Farah Zaqzouq loved school. Her eyes light up as she describes her daily routine before the war in Gaza and her school, which she could see from her bedroom window. 'I used to wake up early and mom made me breakfast, I'd get dressed in my school clothes, then did my hair… I'd go in and say hi to the principal and my teachers, I'd help with the school activities. I was top of my class.' Her smile disappears as her mind switches back to her present-day reality. Both her home and school have been destroyed. Stony-faced, she walks over the ruins of the place of learning that once made her feel safe and happy. Damaged Destroyed Farah's school is in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, formerly a bustling city of 400,000. She was one month into seventh grade when the war began in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel. This satellite photo shows her school intact on March 5, 2024. Source: MAXAR By the time of this photo on February 16, 2025, Farah's school has been heavily damaged. An explosives expert who analyzed footage and imagery for CNN concluded that her school was part of an 'Israeli demolition operation' in which explosives were placed in the building and then detonated. Photo credit: MAXAR replay with audio turn sound off Source: X/Twitter, @ytirawi This video, posted on social media, shows that moment on March 28, 2024. The Israeli military tells CNN it struck the building as it 'served as a gathering point for terrorists and a weapons storage facility.' The IDF claims Hamas built military networks beneath and within schools. Photo credit: MAXAR Farah's school is among the 70% of school buildings classified as having had a 'direct hit' in Israeli strikes, according to the UNICEF-led Education Cluster. Every level of educational institutions has been impacted by the conflict: 24% of university campuses have been destroyed . Source: Education Cluster, as of Dec. 19, 2024 When combined with school buildings and university campuses that have sustained some level of damage , at least 95% of all educational institutions in Gaza have been affected, according to the Education Cluster's assessment. Source: Education Cluster, as of Dec. 19, 2024 After Israel issued a new evacuation order on March 18, some damaged schools that may have been partially in use are now completely off-limits. Source: Israel Defense Forces Damaged buildings next to Farah's school are being used by displaced families as temporary shelters. For the second academic year running, the education system in Gaza has been non-functioning. None of the 745,000 students there -- from elementary school to higher education -- have had any formal schooling for over a year, according to the UN. Most schools that still exist have become shelters for the displaced, it added. In a place where 47% of the population is under 18, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the impact is huge. Just six months into the war, in April 2024, UN experts asked this question: Is Israel committing 'scholasticide'? This is a term which refers to the systematic destruction of a country's education, through the killing or detention of teachers and students, and destruction of educational infrastructure. Children attend class in the severely damaged former school buildings. The IDF did not address the scholasticide accusation directly, but said it seeks to minimize civilian harm while Hamas 'cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.' The Israeli military has previously accused Hamas of using schools-turned-shelters as command-and-control centers. Hamas denies embedding fighters in civilian infrastructure. The targeting of schools is considered a violation of international humanitarian law. UN experts said attacks on schools 'present a systematic pattern of violence aimed at dismantling the very foundation of Palestinian society.' The school chalkboard is still being used despite the damage. By the beginning of the last academic year, in September 2024, almost 10,000 students and at least 411 educational staff had been killed, according to more children have been killed since then. A report by academics and the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in September 2024 found children's education was projected to be set back by up to five years. Professor of international education Pauline Rose, of the University of Cambridge, tells CNN there has been a call for Israel's actions to be recognized as 'scholasticide' and for the world to realize that 'we've got a generation of children that are really losing out on education, and that has implications for the future of Gaza.' Farah Zaqzouq on her school before and now. Replay with sound Replay The wreckage of schools, the resilience of students Masa and her father walk to school along a road lined with rubble. Eleven-year-old Masa used to walk to school on her own, a level of independence her father no longer dares give her. Even during the ceasefire, he worried about dangers in the rubble, unexploded ordnance, an unexpected airstrike. Twice a day, he walked with her, navigating the apocalyptic landscape of the once-bustling Khan Younis. The route to school takes them past destroyed buildings and homes. The UN estimates that Gaza has been reduced to 51 million tons of rubble. Entire neighborhoods have been decimated, man-made destruction resembling the aftermath of an earthquake. Unexploded bombs and munitions buried among the rubble pose a particular threat with at least 10% of ammunition fired potentially failing to detonate, according to UN demining experts. They add that it could take 14 years to clear these unexploded bombs. Masa's three-story family home was destroyed. Her father salvaged what he could, and they now live in one room, patched up with tarp and a tin roof that leaks. Masa on how she finds it difficult to focus when studying. Replay with sound Replay Masa uses this spot on the floor to study in her damaged home. Masa sits on the floor to study; the internet is a pre-war memory. A big challenge to learning -- the lack of power. Before October 2023, Gazans had an average of just 10 hours a day of electricity. Days after the conflict started, Israel cut off Gaza's power feeder lines, blocked fuel imports and eventually the only power station stopped operating. Gazans now rely on solar panels and batteries for electricity, according to the UN. Children return to an UNRWA school in Gaza City on March 12, 2025. Credit: UNRWA Another challenge is the lack of educational supplies, from textbooks and notepaper to pencils and the 2-month ceasefire, progress was made. UNICEF says it was able to rapidly expand its learning spaces to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) provided online schooling via WhatsApp to some 180,000 schoolchildren. Only those with devices and internet access could benefit; both seen as a luxury in present-day Gaza. The agency said it was able to resume some direct learning for about 40,000 children. Most temporary solutions are in limbo since the return to war. The teachers, students and their families helped clear this classroom of rubble and debris so it could be used to teach in once more. Amid all these obstacles, teachers like Doha Al-Attar try to provide a semblance of a school environment for their students. 'We organize recreational activities, play with them, sing in the courtyard, and offer them small gifts to make them feel happy and connected to the place,' she says. UNICEF estimated that 13% of teachers in Gaza had been killed or injured as of August 2024. Education, although vital, is inevitably further down the list of priorities for Gazans than ensuring their health, sustenance and shelter. The mental health toll on educators in Gaza is also high, a study found. Many are still seeking to support students while suffering their own losses and coming to terms with personal trauma. A desk and chair are missing their wooden parts. Nowadays in Gaza, wood is often burned for heating or cooking. For children in Gaza, losing the opportunity to learn comes with the loss of the safe space and more formal psychosocial support that schools provided. 'Schools give kids stability, and that's very important because children in Gaza are deeply traumatized,' says Rosalia Bollen of UNICEF.§ 'I used to have hope before the war, that by investing in her education, she could become a doctor,' Masa's father says. Now, she cannot focus, he says – her mind filled with thoughts about displacement, the constant cold and fears for the future. Without graduates, what's next for Gaza's professional class? A university in Gaza has been reduced to a shell. Four of the eight children in the Abu Odeh family in Khan Younis should have graduated from university last year or this. None of them will. One brother was killed in the war, the future for the rest is uncertain. Manar Sobh Abdul Latif Abu Odeh, 23 years old, was in her fifth year of a degree in architecture. She attended lectures until 4 p.m., then studied in the university she says had everything she needed. That changed overnight after Israel launched its military offensive following the October 7 attacks. Manar on the challenges trying to keep up with her architecture studies. Replay with sound Replay Manar continues her studies online -- when she can access the internet -- not knowing if she will be able to graduate next year, or even later. Having been displaced more than a dozen times, Manar says she has missed entire semesters and examinations and has had no face-to-face time with professors. Children's rights charity Save the Children says extended periods out of education significantly increase the risk of students never completing their studies, with girls being more likely to drop out permanently. UNRWA established a formal education system in 1950, in the absence of a Palestinian state. Pre-conflict, almost half of school-age children attended UNRWA schools in Gaza. Sisters Manar and Rawan walk up the rubble-strewn stairs to the fourth floor, where they can get an internet connection. Israel has now banned the UN agency from operating, accusing it of ties to Hamas, which the UN denies. 'We are already teetering with a possible lost generation of children,' UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told CNN, rejecting Israel's claim it can simply be replaced by another UN agency. 'It could become a real plague for all of us if we do not tackle the question of education.' To study, Manar and her older sister Rawan now have to climb to the fourth floor of a building that seems to defy gravity. A shell of twisted steel and buckled supports, it represents their best chance of an internet connection, allowing them to download a YouTube lecture to fill in some of the extensive gaps in their education. Amid the wreckage of the fourth floor, Manar and Rawan sit to download and watch their coursework. Graduation is not guaranteed for Manar. 'Only if they allow us to go to field training; it is possible we won't be able to do that.' A qualified architect in a strip of land largely reduced to rubble would be worth her weight in gold. Rawan should be a clinical pharmacist by now, another vital role in post-war Gaza. But thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war, she has been able to attend university for only two of the six years required. A lack of functioning healthcare systems throws her vital practical training into doubt. From just this one family, also counting other siblings at university, Gaza's professional class has likely been denied a qualified pharmacist, architect, doctor and engineer. Gaza's last graduating class In the final academic year before the conflict began, more than 25,000 students -- of which 46% are women -- graduated from higher education institutions. For the remaining more than 115,000 students who were enrolled, their future is uncertain. Source: Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education After Rawan's brother and grandparents were killed, she says her motivation to study faltered. Yet still, she says, 'We continued, and we tried to do things within what is available.' Even before October 2023, 70% of graduates in Gaza were unemployed. As of December 2024, the overall unemployment rate was 80%. With private businesses and civil infrastructure decimated in the war, there are few job opportunities to be had. Memories of having to eat leaves and plants to survive, sleeping on the street, being constantly afraid, stay with Rawan even as she tries to study. 'I was discussing my graduation project under fire, bullets were fired above my head, to the point a bullet passed right next to me. God protected me that day,' she says. UNICEF says every child in Gaza has some level of trauma. Only by getting them back into education and providing stability can Palestinians even begin to address the mental health issues of a generation. How we reported this story The Israeli government has prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza since October 2023, unless they are under tightly controlled military escort. Since then, all imagery from Gaza has been shot by local Palestinian journalists and social media users. The data sourced from UNICEF that shows damaged and destroyed schools across Gaza does not include the 16 schools where the probability of damage is 'unknown.'
CNN
29-03-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Education in ruins: Gaza's children on losing their right to learn
Thirteen-year-old Farah Zaqzouq loved school. Her eyes light up as she describes her daily routine before the war in Gaza and her school, which she could see from her bedroom window. 'I used to wake up early and mom made me breakfast, I'd get dressed in my school clothes, then did my hair… I'd go in and say hi to the principal and my teachers, I'd help with the school activities. I was top of my class.' Her smile disappears as her mind switches back to her present-day reality. Both her home and school have been destroyed. Stony-faced, she walks over the ruins of the place of learning that once made her feel safe and happy. Damaged Destroyed Farah's school is in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, formerly a bustling city of 400,000. She was one month into seventh grade when the war began in October 2023, following the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel. This satellite photo shows her school intact on March 5, 2024. Source: MAXAR By the time of this photo on February 16, 2025, Farah's school has been heavily damaged. An explosives expert who analyzed footage and imagery for CNN concluded that her school was part of an 'Israeli demolition operation' in which explosives were placed in the building and then detonated. Photo credit: MAXAR replay with audio turn sound off Source: X/Twitter, @ytirawi This video, posted on social media, shows that moment on March 28, 2024. The Israeli military tells CNN it struck the building as it 'served as a gathering point for terrorists and a weapons storage facility.' The IDF claims Hamas built military networks beneath and within schools. Photo credit: MAXAR Farah's school is among the 70% of school buildings classified as having had a 'direct hit' in Israeli strikes, according to the UNICEF-led Education Cluster. Every level of educational institutions has been impacted by the conflict: 24% of university campuses have been destroyed . Source: Education Cluster, as of Dec. 19, 2024 When combined with school buildings and university campuses that have sustained some level of damage , at least 95% of all educational institutions in Gaza have been affected, according to the Education Cluster's assessment. Source: Education Cluster, as of Dec. 19, 2024 After Israel issued a new evacuation order on March 18, some damaged schools that may have been partially in use are now completely off-limits. Source: Israel Defense Forces Damaged buildings next to Farah's school are being used by displaced families as temporary shelters. For the second academic year running, the education system in Gaza has been non-functioning. None of the 745,000 students there -- from elementary school to higher education -- have had any formal schooling for over a year, according to the UN. Most schools that still exist have become shelters for the displaced, it added. In a place where 47% of the population is under 18, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the impact is huge. Just six months into the war, in April 2024, UN experts asked this question: Is Israel committing 'scholasticide'? This is a term which refers to the systematic destruction of a country's education, through the killing or detention of teachers and students, and destruction of educational infrastructure. Children attend class in the severely damaged former school buildings. The IDF did not address the scholasticide accusation directly, but said it seeks to minimize civilian harm while Hamas 'cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.' The Israeli military has previously accused Hamas of using schools-turned-shelters as command-and-control centers. Hamas denies embedding fighters in civilian infrastructure. The targeting of schools is considered a violation of international humanitarian law. UN experts said attacks on schools 'present a systematic pattern of violence aimed at dismantling the very foundation of Palestinian society.' The school chalkboard is still being used despite the damage. By the beginning of the last academic year, in September 2024, almost 10,000 students and at least 411 educational staff had been killed, according to more children have been killed since then. A report by academics and the UN's Palestinian refugee agency in September 2024 found children's education was projected to be set back by up to five years. Professor of international education Pauline Rose, of the University of Cambridge, tells CNN there has been a call for Israel's actions to be recognized as 'scholasticide' and for the world to realize that 'we've got a generation of children that are really losing out on education, and that has implications for the future of Gaza.' Farah Zaqzouq on her school before and now. Replay with sound Replay The wreckage of schools, the resilience of students Masa and her father walk to school along a road lined with rubble. Eleven-year-old Masa used to walk to school on her own, a level of independence her father no longer dares give her. Even during the ceasefire, he worried about dangers in the rubble, unexploded ordnance, an unexpected airstrike. Twice a day, he walked with her, navigating the apocalyptic landscape of the once-bustling Khan Younis. The route to school takes them past destroyed buildings and homes. The UN estimates that Gaza has been reduced to 51 million tons of rubble. Entire neighborhoods have been decimated, man-made destruction resembling the aftermath of an earthquake. Unexploded bombs and munitions buried among the rubble pose a particular threat with at least 10% of ammunition fired potentially failing to detonate, according to UN demining experts. They add that it could take 14 years to clear these unexploded bombs. Masa's three-story family home was destroyed. Her father salvaged what he could, and they now live in one room, patched up with tarp and a tin roof that leaks. Masa on how she finds it difficult to focus when studying. Replay with sound Replay Masa uses this spot on the floor to study in her damaged home. Masa sits on the floor to study; the internet is a pre-war memory. A big challenge to learning -- the lack of power. Before October 2023, Gazans had an average of just 10 hours a day of electricity. Days after the conflict started, Israel cut off Gaza's power feeder lines, blocked fuel imports and eventually the only power station stopped operating. Gazans now rely on solar panels and batteries for electricity, according to the UN. Children return to an UNRWA school in Gaza City on March 12, 2025. Credit: UNRWA Another challenge is the lack of educational supplies, from textbooks and notepaper to pencils and the 2-month ceasefire, progress was made. UNICEF says it was able to rapidly expand its learning spaces to UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) provided online schooling via WhatsApp to some 180,000 schoolchildren. Only those with devices and internet access could benefit; both seen as a luxury in present-day Gaza. The agency said it was able to resume some direct learning for about 40,000 children. Most temporary solutions are in limbo since the return to war. The teachers, students and their families helped clear this classroom of rubble and debris so it could be used to teach in once more. Amid all these obstacles, teachers like Doha Al-Attar try to provide a semblance of a school environment for their students. 'We organize recreational activities, play with them, sing in the courtyard, and offer them small gifts to make them feel happy and connected to the place,' she says. UNICEF estimated that 13% of teachers in Gaza had been killed or injured as of August 2024. Education, although vital, is inevitably further down the list of priorities for Gazans than ensuring their health, sustenance and shelter. The mental health toll on educators in Gaza is also high, a study found. Many are still seeking to support students while suffering their own losses and coming to terms with personal trauma. A desk and chair are missing their wooden parts. Nowadays in Gaza, wood is often burned for heating or cooking. For children in Gaza, losing the opportunity to learn comes with the loss of the safe space and more formal psychosocial support that schools provided. 'Schools give kids stability, and that's very important because children in Gaza are deeply traumatized,' says Rosalia Bollen of UNICEF.§ 'I used to have hope before the war, that by investing in her education, she could become a doctor,' Masa's father says. Now, she cannot focus, he says – her mind filled with thoughts about displacement, the constant cold and fears for the future. Without graduates, what's next for Gaza's professional class? A university in Gaza has been reduced to a shell. Four of the eight children in the Abu Odeh family in Khan Younis should have graduated from university last year or this. None of them will. One brother was killed in the war, the future for the rest is uncertain. Manar Sobh Abdul Latif Abu Odeh, 23 years old, was in her fifth year of a degree in architecture. She attended lectures until 4 p.m., then studied in the university she says had everything she needed. That changed overnight after Israel launched its military offensive following the October 7 attacks. Manar on the challenges trying to keep up with her architecture studies. Replay with sound Replay Manar continues her studies online -- when she can access the internet -- not knowing if she will be able to graduate next year, or even later. Having been displaced more than a dozen times, Manar says she has missed entire semesters and examinations and has had no face-to-face time with professors. Children's rights charity Save the Children says extended periods out of education significantly increase the risk of students never completing their studies, with girls being more likely to drop out permanently. UNRWA established a formal education system in 1950, in the absence of a Palestinian state. Pre-conflict, almost half of school-age children attended UNRWA schools in Gaza. Sisters Manar and Rawan walk up the rubble-strewn stairs to the fourth floor, where they can get an internet connection. Israel has now banned the UN agency from operating, accusing it of ties to Hamas, which the UN denies. 'We are already teetering with a possible lost generation of children,' UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told CNN, rejecting Israel's claim it can simply be replaced by another UN agency. 'It could become a real plague for all of us if we do not tackle the question of education.' To study, Manar and her older sister Rawan now have to climb to the fourth floor of a building that seems to defy gravity. A shell of twisted steel and buckled supports, it represents their best chance of an internet connection, allowing them to download a YouTube lecture to fill in some of the extensive gaps in their education. Amid the wreckage of the fourth floor, Manar and Rawan sit to download and watch their coursework. Graduation is not guaranteed for Manar. 'Only if they allow us to go to field training; it is possible we won't be able to do that.' A qualified architect in a strip of land largely reduced to rubble would be worth her weight in gold. Rawan should be a clinical pharmacist by now, another vital role in post-war Gaza. But thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war, she has been able to attend university for only two of the six years required. A lack of functioning healthcare systems throws her vital practical training into doubt. From just this one family, also counting other siblings at university, Gaza's professional class has likely been denied a qualified pharmacist, architect, doctor and engineer. Gaza's last graduating class In the final academic year before the conflict began, more than 25,000 students -- of which 46% are women -- graduated from higher education institutions. For the remaining more than 115,000 students who were enrolled, their future is uncertain. Source: Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education After Rawan's brother and grandparents were killed, she says her motivation to study faltered. Yet still, she says, 'We continued, and we tried to do things within what is available.' Even before October 2023, 70% of graduates in Gaza were unemployed. As of December 2024, the overall unemployment rate was 80%. With private businesses and civil infrastructure decimated in the war, there are few job opportunities to be had. Memories of having to eat leaves and plants to survive, sleeping on the street, being constantly afraid, stay with Rawan even as she tries to study. 'I was discussing my graduation project under fire, bullets were fired above my head, to the point a bullet passed right next to me. God protected me that day,' she says. UNICEF says every child in Gaza has some level of trauma. Only by getting them back into education and providing stability can Palestinians even begin to address the mental health issues of a generation. How we reported this story The Israeli government has prevented foreign journalists from entering Gaza since October 2023, unless they are under tightly controlled military escort. Since then, all imagery from Gaza has been shot by local Palestinian journalists and social media users. The data sourced from UNICEF that shows damaged and destroyed schools across Gaza does not include the 16 schools where the probability of damage is 'unknown.'
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
See it: SpaceX 'jellyfish' spotted across mid-Atlantic, Northeast sky as pair of satellites launch into orbit
A SpaceX rocket was seen screaming across the eastern U.s. sky after the company launched a pair of MAXAR satellites. SpaceX launched the satellites on Tuesday evening on one of its Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Fog obscured the view for some along Florida's Space Coast. However, because of the launch trajectory and final orbit of the satellites, those to the north of the Sunshine State had the best view of this mission. Social media users across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast shared images of the SpaceX "jellyfish" created as the rocket went soaring into the sky. The video at the top of this story was taken in Morehead City, North Carolina. The launch was also visible from Topsail Beach, North Carolina, where this photo was taken. The jellyfish in the sky was bright on Assateague Island, Maryland, just after sunset, creating a colorful sky in the background. MAXAR selected SpaceX to launch its fifth and sixth Worldview Legion satellites into orbit. With its current satellites, the technology company provides high-resolution images of the world, including recent weather events and natural disasters. Before And After Images Show The Extent Of Wildfire Damage Around Los Angeles The company said with the additional eyes in the sky, it will be able to collect up to 3.6 million square miles of imagery every article source: See it: SpaceX 'jellyfish' spotted across mid-Atlantic, Northeast sky as pair of satellites launch into orbit
