Mahmoud Shamiya walks to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea every day just to pass the time. He is among Gaza’s tens of thousands of young people who have no work as the economy collapsed during Israel’s devastating war.Shamiya graduated from Al-Aqsa University with a degree in basic education three years ago, dreaming of becoming a teacher and a role model for children. Today, his daily routine consists of fetching water, scavenging for firewood and surviving in a tent. Mahmoud Shamiya, a university graduate who dreamed of becoming a teacher, now spends his days navigating a deadly routine in a displacement camp [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]“The occupation and this war came and destroyed all the landmarks of education in Gaza,” Shamiya said. “Today, we have become aimless, jobless, and hopeless. We live a deadly routine.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIsrael destroyed most universities and schools in Gaza – home to 2.3 million people – and killed at least 72,000 Palestinians in military operations described as genocide by the UN and global scholars.Shamiya’s despair reflects a broader generational catastrophe. Approximately 70 percent of Gaza’s residents are under 30 and they are navigating a reality that the United Nations describes as the fastest and most damaging economic collapse on record.According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, unemployment in the Gaza Strip has increased to 80 percent. The local gross domestic product (GDP) has plunged by 87 percent over the past two years to a mere $362m, with GDP per capita down to $161. Advertisement Economists says that’s effectively erased 22 years of development, leaving the territory’s youth …
