Recently, social media has been abuzz with claims that the Ministry of Education in Gaza has officially announced the end of the 2023/2024 academic year due to the martyrdom of all students. This news has spread extensively.

Some viral Facebook posts with this claim can be found here (archive), here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).

Some viral X posts with this claim can be found here (archive), here (archive), here (archive) and here (archive).
Fact-Check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation has revealed that The Palestinian Ministry of Education has not declared the end of the 2023-24 academic year in Gaza. However, the Ministry has announced the suspension of education programs in Gaza schools.
Early in the investigation, a keyword search led to an article on Etv Bharat, an Indian news site, dated October 31st. This article claimed that following the deaths of three thousand children in Israeli attacks in Palestine, Gaza’s National Ministry of Education had prematurely ended the 2023-24 academic year. The article cited a ministry statement as its source. However, the Rumor Scanner team found no other media coverage of this news at the time.
Further investigation revealed a report from Roya News, a Jordan-based news outlet, published on October 29th. It quoted Sadeq Al-Khdour, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Ministry of Education, stating that two thousand students and over seventy teachers in Gaza had perished in Israeli attacks. Yet, this report contained no information about the conclusion of the academic year.
The origin of the claim was tracked to an October 26th post (archive) on an Arabic Facebook account, where the claim was initially made in Arabic.

Screenshot: Facebook
On October 27th, similar information was posted by a Romanian ‘X’ account and rapidly went viral. This post reached nearly 576 thousand people so far.

Screenshot: X
On October 27th and 28th, the same information reached over 5.2 million people through two additional ‘X’ accounts (1, 2).
Further inquiries by the Rumor Scanner team included contact with Wafa, a Palestinian news agency. Wafa confirmed they were unaware of any such declaration by the ministry but acknowledged the ongoing suspension of educational activities in Gaza.
Baker Abd Al-Haq, founder of the Palestinian fact-checking organization Tahaqaq, and Riham Abu Aita, co-founder of Kashif, both affirmed that the Ministry of Education had not issued such an announcement.
The Rumor Scanner team reviewed all notifications and statements on the Ministry of Education’s website since the start of the conflict on October 7th and found no mention of the academic year’s conclusion.
However, a December 14th press release from the ministry expressed gratitude to teachers who have continued their educational duties amidst these challenging times.
This press release makes it clear that the current academic year has not been declared concluded.
Furthermore, an October 7th post (archive) on the ministry’s Facebook page announced the suspension of classroom activities in Gaza’s schools until further notice.
Bottom Line
In summary, while the Ministry of Education of Palestine did suspend classroom activities in Gaza on October 7th, due to the conflict, they have not declared the entire academic year as concluded. Moreover, the recent Teacher’s Day acknowledgment from the ministry for teachers’ ongoing efforts during the crisis clearly indicates that the 2023-24 academic year is still ongoing.
Therefore, the widespread internet claim that the Ministry of Education in Gaza has concluded the 2023-24 academic year is misleading.
Sources
- Palestine Education Ministry: Press Release Dec 14
- Palestine Education Ministry: Facebook Post
- Statement from WAFA News Agency
- Statement from Riham Abu Aita
- Rumor Scanner’s own investigation