What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
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World
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A Day for Gaza
/ February 3, 2026
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Hamada Abu Layla spent 22 years earning three degrees from Gaza universities. Now they mock him from a garbage dump.
Ismail Nofal
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Islamic University in Gaza, October 16, 2025.
This piece is part of A Day for Gaza, an initiative in which The Nation has turned over its website exclusively to voices from the Gaza Strip. You can find all of the work in the series here
This story was published in collaboration with Egab.
“These certificates were supposed to open doors, not remind me of what I’ve lost,” says Hamada Abu Layla, 45, holding his three university degrees.
It is January, 2026, more than 90 days after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and Abu Layla is standing amid piles of garbage bags in Al-Yarmuk, a dump in central Gaza City; it has been his family’s home for the past few months. Unable to return to Beit Lahia, where he once lived, he spent days searching Gaza City for vacant land to pitch his tent on. After finding none, he finally erected it inside Al-Yarmuk.
“It’s very bad—a pure health hazard where all of Gaza’s waste gets dumped,” he says.
Abu Layla lives in Al-Yarmuk with his wife and five children. They share the site with rodents, insects, snakes, and stray dogs that pound the fabric walls at night, terrifying the children and keeping them from sleeping. His children have developed skin rashes from insects.
A Day for Gaza
A Ceasefire in Name Only
Mohammed R. Mhawish
The Gaza Street That Refuses to Die
Ali Skaik
A Catalog of Gaza’s Loss
Deema Hattab
My Sister’s Death Still Echoes Inside Me
Asmaa Dwaima
What Gaza’s Photographers Have Seen
Huda Skaik
How to Survive in a House Without Walls
Rasha Abou Jalal
What Edward Said Teaches Us About Gaza
Alaa Alqaisi
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Ismail Nofal
At the Doorstep of Tomorrow
Engy Abdelal
“We Have Covered Events No Human Can Bear”
Ola Al Asi
Once, less than two-and-a-half years ago, Abu Layla had his own apartment—in a building where his parents and siblings also lived—and spent his days lecturing at Gaza’s Islamic Da’wa College. As a younger man, he graduated first in Palestine in Islamic Sharia from this university, and then went on to earn diplomas in information technology and mathematics.
But the war has taken all of this from him. The Israeli army bombed his Beit Lahia apartment building, killing both his parents and his siblings, and only Abu Layla, his immediate family, and one brother survived. They fled without …
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Current Issue
World
/
A Day for Gaza
/ February 3, 2026
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Hamada Abu Layla spent 22 years earning three degrees from Gaza universities. Now they mock him from a garbage dump.
Ismail Nofal
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Edit
Ad Policy
Islamic University in Gaza, October 16, 2025.
This piece is part of A Day for Gaza, an initiative in which The Nation has turned over its website exclusively to voices from the Gaza Strip. You can find all of the work in the series here
This story was published in collaboration with Egab.
“These certificates were supposed to open doors, not remind me of what I’ve lost,” says Hamada Abu Layla, 45, holding his three university degrees.
It is January, 2026, more than 90 days after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and Abu Layla is standing amid piles of garbage bags in Al-Yarmuk, a dump in central Gaza City; it has been his family’s home for the past few months. Unable to return to Beit Lahia, where he once lived, he spent days searching Gaza City for vacant land to pitch his tent on. After finding none, he finally erected it inside Al-Yarmuk.
“It’s very bad—a pure health hazard where all of Gaza’s waste gets dumped,” he says.
Abu Layla lives in Al-Yarmuk with his wife and five children. They share the site with rodents, insects, snakes, and stray dogs that pound the fabric walls at night, terrifying the children and keeping them from sleeping. His children have developed skin rashes from insects.
A Day for Gaza
A Ceasefire in Name Only
Mohammed R. Mhawish
The Gaza Street That Refuses to Die
Ali Skaik
A Catalog of Gaza’s Loss
Deema Hattab
My Sister’s Death Still Echoes Inside Me
Asmaa Dwaima
What Gaza’s Photographers Have Seen
Huda Skaik
How to Survive in a House Without Walls
Rasha Abou Jalal
What Edward Said Teaches Us About Gaza
Alaa Alqaisi
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Ismail Nofal
At the Doorstep of Tomorrow
Engy Abdelal
“We Have Covered Events No Human Can Bear”
Ola Al Asi
Once, less than two-and-a-half years ago, Abu Layla had his own apartment—in a building where his parents and siblings also lived—and spent his days lecturing at Gaza’s Islamic Da’wa College. As a younger man, he graduated first in Palestine in Islamic Sharia from this university, and then went on to earn diplomas in information technology and mathematics.
But the war has taken all of this from him. The Israeli army bombed his Beit Lahia apartment building, killing both his parents and his siblings, and only Abu Layla, his immediate family, and one brother survived. They fled without …
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Who's accountable for the results?
Log In
Email *
Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
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What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
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Subscribe
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Subscribe
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Magazine
Latest
Archive
Podcasts
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Sections
Politics
World
Economy
Culture
Books & the Arts
The Nation
About
Events
Contact Us
Advertise
Current Issue
World
/
A Day for Gaza
/ February 3, 2026
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Hamada Abu Layla spent 22 years earning three degrees from Gaza universities. Now they mock him from a garbage dump.
Ismail Nofal
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Islamic University in Gaza, October 16, 2025.
This piece is part of A Day for Gaza, an initiative in which The Nation has turned over its website exclusively to voices from the Gaza Strip. You can find all of the work in the series here
This story was published in collaboration with Egab.
“These certificates were supposed to open doors, not remind me of what I’ve lost,” says Hamada Abu Layla, 45, holding his three university degrees.
It is January, 2026, more than 90 days after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and Abu Layla is standing amid piles of garbage bags in Al-Yarmuk, a dump in central Gaza City; it has been his family’s home for the past few months. Unable to return to Beit Lahia, where he once lived, he spent days searching Gaza City for vacant land to pitch his tent on. After finding none, he finally erected it inside Al-Yarmuk.
“It’s very bad—a pure health hazard where all of Gaza’s waste gets dumped,” he says.
Abu Layla lives in Al-Yarmuk with his wife and five children. They share the site with rodents, insects, snakes, and stray dogs that pound the fabric walls at night, terrifying the children and keeping them from sleeping. His children have developed skin rashes from insects.
A Day for Gaza
A Ceasefire in Name Only
Mohammed R. Mhawish
The Gaza Street That Refuses to Die
Ali Skaik
A Catalog of Gaza’s Loss
Deema Hattab
My Sister’s Death Still Echoes Inside Me
Asmaa Dwaima
What Gaza’s Photographers Have Seen
Huda Skaik
How to Survive in a House Without Walls
Rasha Abou Jalal
What Edward Said Teaches Us About Gaza
Alaa Alqaisi
What Happens to the Educators When the Schools Have Been Destroyed?
Ismail Nofal
At the Doorstep of Tomorrow
Engy Abdelal
“We Have Covered Events No Human Can Bear”
Ola Al Asi
Once, less than two-and-a-half years ago, Abu Layla had his own apartment—in a building where his parents and siblings also lived—and spent his days lecturing at Gaza’s Islamic Da’wa College. As a younger man, he graduated first in Palestine in Islamic Sharia from this university, and then went on to earn diplomas in information technology and mathematics.
But the war has taken all of this from him. The Israeli army bombed his Beit Lahia apartment building, killing both his parents and his siblings, and only Abu Layla, his immediate family, and one brother survived. They fled without …
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