UN official: Destruction of Gaza will lead to a lost generation of children

This week Al Isra University was the latest public building in Gaza that disappeared from the map, blown up and destroyed by Israeli forces allegedly using it as a military base for several weeks.

The Gaza war has already caused an unprecedented loss of life, but there is also growing concern about the destruction of public and private buildings.

Now a senior UN official has told BBC News of his fears that widespread damage would lead to a missing “brest” youth.

Israel declared war on Hamas after the group led a massive attack on communities within Israel, killing about 1,200 people mainly civilians and taking about 240 others back to Gaza as hostages.

About 130 remain in captivity. Almost 25,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led health ministry.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) publishes regular bulletins on the impact of war, and they show a grim state.

Its recent updates say that at least 60% of Gaza housing or residential units are “destroyed or damaged”. Nine out of every 10 schools have suffered significant “ ” damage. Hospitals, public buildings and electricity networks have also been hit.

Amir Mohammed Al-Najari is 22. He is originally from Jabalia in northern Gaza, but has been forced with his family to go to an improvised camp near Khan Yunis in the south.

He and his brothers and sisters say that their dreams will disappear in the clouds of smoke.

My “Motra studied in the third year of Al-Quds University, but was bombed. And my brother was in his last year of school, at Khalil Al-Rahman School, but she was also bombed”, says Amir sitting outside in the improvised tent the family now calls home.

I finished my engineering studies. If there were no war, I would have had a job interview and probably accepted. Finally, it's my little brother, who's in seventh grade. He studied at UN school. Nothing's left of it”

Like any society, Gaza's future is its children. But here, they are disproportionally victims of war and, the UN says, could completely lose what should be their right.