Ramallah, June 09 (QNA) - The death toll among students and educational personnel in Gaza and the West Bank has risen to 21,701 since the outbreak of Israel's war of annihilation in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian Education Ministry revealed in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement added that 20,647 students and 1,054 teachers and staff members working in educational institutions across the West Bank and Gaza have been killed during this period amid the relentless Israeli infringement on the right to education.

The Gaza Strip alone accounted for the deaths of over 19,101 school students, 1,379 university students, 802 school staff members, and 246 university personnel, the statement said, noting that more than 28,419 school students, 3,017 university students, 3,291 school staff members, and over 1,493 university personnel have also been wounded.

The data showed that more than 179 public schools have been thoroughly devastated, while over 105 schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have been struck and vandalized.

In addition, more than 63 university buildings have been completely destroyed.

The Ministry further shared that in the West Bank, six school employees have been killed and 25 others injured, while more than 171 members of educational personnel have been detained.

Earlier today, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, has climbed to 72,988, with 173,205 others injured.

In the West Bank, nine universities and colleges have been subjected to repeated incursions and vandalism, while attacks on schools have continued and students have come under assault by settlers.

The Ministry's figures showed that the number of student fatalities in the West Bank has reached 128 school students and 39 university students.

Meanwhile, 861 school students and more than 278 university students have been injured, in addition to the detention of 421 school students and more than 487 university students. (QNA)