Standing outside a youth centre in the north of Gaza, Mohammed, a confident 12-year-old,says he works hard at sciences in school and has big dreams: “I want to be an astronaut, I want to be the first astronaut from Gaza.”

For children in the war-ravaged region, imaginations remain intact. But 100 days after the seven-week offensive launched by Israel in which homes were reduced to rubble, entire families killed - 89 in the recent offensive - and schools destroyed, achieving those dreams has become a separate battle in itself.

The situation is desperate. Around half of Gaza’s population of 1.8 million are under the age of 18 - and though 500,000 children are back at school that means hundreds of thousands are without education. Thirty thousand children were displaced by the fighting. The seemingly constant cycle of violence means that any child over seven has now lived through three wars.

But amid the destruction, children still want to play - and they want to learn.

According to the UN, the summer conflict left more than 250 schools damaged, 26 beyond repair. Parents and school teachers say they can all see the toll the violence is taking on Gaza's children.

In pictures: The children of Gaza Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: The children of Gaza In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children playing at one of the Canaan Institutes outreach programs in Retal Kindergarten. This was their first day back since the war began In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children playing on the swings at one of the Canaan Institutes outreach programs in Retal Kindergarten In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Animators dress up in bear costumes and entertain the children at one of the Canaan Institutes outreach programs in Retal Kindergarten In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Issa Saaba, the director and founder of the Canaan Institute, Gaza City In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza A family digs through the rubble of their home in search for the bodies of relatives still buried inside. Beit Hanoun saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 51 day war with much of the neighborhood totally destroyed In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza This family from Sujayea had been digging for 4 days in the blistering heat attempting to recover some of their brothers recent wedding presents from inside their destroyed home. The densely populated district of Sujayea near the border with Israel was the scene of much of the worst fighting In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza This family from Sujayea had been digging for 4 days in the blistering heat attempting to recover some of their brothers recent wedding presents from inside their destroyed home. The densely populated district of Sujayea near the border with Israel was the scene of much of the worst fighting In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza The first day back to school and the streets of Gaza City are filled with children in the morning. The first 2 weeks were dedicated solely to psycho social support In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children sneaking a look at the performance taking place at one of the UNRWA schools in Gaza City on the first day back at school. The first 2 weeks were dedicated solely to psycho social support In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza The performance taking place at one of the UNRWA schools in Gaza City on the first day back at school. The first 2 weeks were dedicated solely to psycho social support In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza The birthday party of Umer at the Never Stop Dreaming Center, Gaza City. This event was funded by HOPE AND PLAY from a donation by Umer's parents who live in the UK In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children enjoying the last light on the beach, Gaza City. During the war no one dared venture onto the beach for fear of being targeted In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza On the weekends hundreds of people gather at the port as night falls to socialize, relax and swim In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza A young man kicks rocks past destroyed homes in Shujayea, one of the worst hit areas in Gaza City where unexploded ordnances are still an ever present threat In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza One of the children from the outreach program in at youth centre in northern Gaza close to the border with Israel In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza The home of young boy from Beit Hanoun was badly damaged by a drone attack. His family offered us what little food they had as ate with them on the street, shaded by what remained of their home In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Animators lead the children through one of their games in an outreach program at youth centre in northern Gaza close to the border with Israel In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Some children from a bedouin area in Eastern Gaza perform some of their dance routines for the rest of the class In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children from the Camp Breakerz dance crew show off their moves as Sharky looks on. Sharky started camp breakerz in 2012 and now it has dozens of children attending on a regular basis. Its a chance for them to let off a bit of steam as there are minimal extracurricular activities for children growing up in Gaza today In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Dr’s from the Gaza Community Mental Health Program meet with a traumatised family in Gaza City who lost their father In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Salma, who was traumatised, receives treatment at her home from the Gaza Community Mental Health Program in Gaza City. She had lost her 18 of her fmaily members when their family home was bombed In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children playing at the Nawa for Culture and Arts Association, Gaza City. The center was started in 2013 by Reem Abu Jabr and now helps dozens of children with various activities such as arts and crafts and dancing In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Teachers sing with the young children at Childrens Land kindergarden in the bedouin village of Um al Nasser. This kindergarden, after taking on the children from another kindergarden, is now over crowded. The 'Land of the Children' kindegarten was bombed and then bulldozed by the IDF during the most recent offensive. Over 26 schools in Gaza were destroyed during the 51 day war and 232 were damaged In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Zaher Hania one of the Canaan Institutes Animators captivates the children during an early evening in Zana, an area in the North of Gaza that was badly destroyed In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza People from Zana in the North of Gaza point at where their playground was destroyed In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Prayer continues in this Mosque in Zana despite its terrible damage In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children from a Judo School in Gaza City perform some of what they've learnt in the graduation ceremony In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music practice their music. Many kids find music a way to escape the suffering and pain of the war In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music practice their music. Many kids find music a way to escape the suffering and pain of the war In pictures: The children of Gaza Gaza Children playing along the Corniche in Gaza city. On the weekends people from all over Gaza City come to the corniche to relax, socialize and enjoy the cooler part of the day at the beach. During the war no one dared venture onto the beach for fear of being targeted

“For 51 days, friends and family of the children were killed, homes around them destroyed, no place was safe,” says Abu Sherif, a head teacher. “We are lucky they have come to help us”.

He is referring to members of Hope and Play, a British charity set up by two Oxford graduates that aims to alleviate the trauma inflicted on children in the area by the conflict.

The men and women - dressed in colourful bear suits - enter the classroom and work hard to transform the mood, banging drums and playing music to the students.

“The children are heavily traumatised by what has happened. These activities are designed to ease them back into education,” says Zaher Hania, one of Hope and Play’s “animators”.

The team visits three or four locations every day, spending two hours in each one. After lunch, they go to a youth centre in the village of Zanna, in the southern Gaza Strip. Hundreds of children are gathered in an opening surrounded by apocalyptic piles of rubble, where houses once stood. In the distance is the concrete wall and razorwire that separates Gaza from Israel, and a watchtower for the latter to monitor the border.

But the games go on amid the debris; laughter echoing through the rubble, they leap under colorful parachutes.

“By playing here, in the middle of the destruction, it helps the kids process what has happened,” says Tareq Ramdan, another animator. “It diminishes their fear.”

The charity’s visits are part of an emergency trauma scheme funded with money raised by Hope and Play and their predominately British donors. Its programmes are implemented by the Canaan Institute, a leading educational body in Gaza that has trained thousands of NGO workers across the Strip, and is designed to give children a break from the mental pain and suffering inflicted by the violence.

While these emergency trauma programs are crucial at the moment following the recent escalation, Hope and Play's trustees are hoping for a complete end to the violence so that they can resume fundraising and financing their long-term education programme.

“The vast majority of Palestinians are remarkably tolerant, moderate and open-minded. It's vital we keep those values alive in young Gazans if we want to see peace in the Middle East,” Saskia Marsh, Hope and Play's trustee, says.

“Providing Gaza’s kids with learning and enjoyment, fostering open mindsets and lessening the psychological impact of ongoing conflict is vital to improving their chances of having a healthy and happy childhood,” adds fellow trustee Iyas Al Qasem. “This will also help lay the foundation for a balanced and productive adulthood. We are doing no more than helping them have some of their basic human rights.”

Unfortunately, despite the severity of the situation, in recent years many of the charities have lost much of their funding. Since Hamas, a group labelled a terrorist organisation by most Western countries, took power in 2007, donors have become wary of sending funds to Gaza. This has had a crippling effect on the well-being of Gaza civilians.

“There are countless organisations that work completely independently and are dedicated to bringing a better life to the innocent children in Gaza," says Saskia.“Our urgent projects to relieve child trauma rely on the ability of people across the world to recognise this”.

Despite the lack of funding and continued cycles of war, the resilience of the youth in Gaza is astounding. The Independent met some children who had travelled to the local music school under heavy shelling in order to practice in preparation for a regional competition in Beirut. At a breakdance centre, children from the refugee camp come together daily to practice and dream of visiting competitions around the world and at the beach teenagers surf the local waves to get away from the city struggles.

“Gaza's children are no different from children elsewhere the world over - they simply try their best to lead normal lives." says Iyas.

Back at the youth centre in the north, Gaza’s premier wannabe-astronaut says he is looking forward to starting school again: “This is the first fun we have had since the war stopped, it allows us to forget everything which has happened.”