Malala donates $50,000 in prize money to rebuild UN school in Gaza

Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan smiles at the World's Children's Prize ceremony in Mariefred, Sweden, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014. (TT News Agency / Anders Wiklund)

JERUSALEM -- The UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees says Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has donated $50,000 to rebuild a UN school in Gaza damaged during this summer's Israel-Hamas war.

UNRWA says Malala is donating all of the proceeds of the $50,000 World Children's Prize, which she collected in Stockholm on Wednesday.

The agency quoted Malala as saying Palestinian children deserve a quality education, and that "without education, there will never be peace."

Dozens of Gaza's UN schools were damaged or destroyed during the 50-day war. Israel says it fired near schools responding to Hamas' attacks from the areas.

The 17-year-old Malala won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for promoting girls' rights in her native Pakistan. She survived a shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago.