GAZA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Among the rubble of Gaza City's Islamic University, Ahmed Totah approached his first classroom with a mix of fear and hope. The campus was badly damaged, but the 19-year-old was finally starting the university education he had dreamed of.
"I never imagined this moment would come so quickly," he said, holding his new schoolbag. "Especially after two years of war and the near collapse of life in Gaza."
Totah had graduated from high school in July with a 93 percent average. He called it unexpected. Years of airstrikes and disruptions had forced him to study by the dim light of a phone or candle.
"I studied while feeling everything around me was collapsing," he said. "Every night I told myself: We can lose everything, but we mustn't lose our education."
Even with his grades, going to university had felt almost impossible. Classes had been suspended, and most campus buildings were in ruins.
"When the results came out, I wasn't as happy as I expected," he said. "The fear outweighed the joy. I kept asking myself: Will I actually study? Or wait another year?"
He eventually enrolled in the information-technology program he had long dreamed of. But his first steps onto the campus were overwhelming. Destruction was everywhere, and piles of wreckage made the university barely recognizable compared to what it had once been.
Still, he said, simply being here gives him a sense of hope he didn't have just a few months ago. "It may not be what it was," he said, "but it's still the only place where I can believe in the future. Just sitting in a classroom gives me the energy to continue."
Hiba Abu Nada, 21, returned to her history studies after a two-year break. She had enrolled in 2023 but had spent the conflict studying online, worried that her degree might be completed without ever entering a classroom.
For her, entering a lecture hall for the first time was a powerful moment. It showed that education could continue despite the war.
"Looking around at the empty seats and damaged walls, I realized returning wasn't just about studying," she said. "It was proof that the future isn't over and we can rebuild our lives."
Totah and Abu Nada are among a few thousand students returning to in-person classes in Gaza. The Islamic University, badly damaged, has reopened after two years.
Before the war, Gaza had seven universities and eleven colleges. The conflict has inflicted heavy losses: at least 1,111 university students and 193 academics and professors have been killed, including Sufian Tayeh, president of the Islamic University.
Despite this, the university has reopened for first-year students in programs that require hands-on learning: medicine, engineering, science, nursing, information technology, and law.
Bassam al-Saqqa, the university's vice president, said the reopening is "part of a phased plan to gradually restore academic life, focusing on courses that cannot be taught online." The challenges are huge. Buildings, labs, electricity, and internet infrastructure are all badly damaged. A shortage of materials slows reconstruction and delays full reopening.
Al-Azhar University in Gaza is taking a similar approach, prioritizing science and medical faculties that need labs. About 1,000 students have returned to campus, though some still study online.
For students like Farah Deeb, 22, returning to campus is both shocking and relieving.
Farah Deeb, 22, a medical student, told Xinhua that returning to the university "was unexpected given the scale of destruction."
"Simply seeing the college doors reopen felt like a dream ... The return represents an important step toward reclaiming our academic lives, despite all the difficulties," she said. ■
