In April 2012, the Hamas government’s Education Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced that it would begin offering Hebrew classes to high school students in 2013. The plan has since been implemented, and ninth-grade students in 14 schools in Gaza now have access to Hebrew-language classes as an elective.

Hebrew is not an entirely foreign language to Palestinians in Gaza since hundreds of thousands of them at some point worked in Israel before Hamas seized control of the coastal territory. According to Reuters, some 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza “retain a grasp” of Hebrew. The decision to teach Hebrew has, unsurprisingly, generated a variety of reactions.

Many Palestinians believe that since Hebrew is the language of their adversary, learning Hebrew is key to understanding the Israelis and dealing with them. They, therefore, see the decision to teach Hebrew as a step in the right direction. For instance, Reuters reported that during the eight-day Israeli military operation in Gaza in November 2012, Hamas and its armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, sent messages to Israelis via statements, videos and broadcasts in Hebrew.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Soumayya al-Nakhala, a senior official in the Hamas Education Ministry, said that the decision to offer Hebrew classes had been received extremely well by students and parents alike, who understood its centrality to dealing with the Israelis.