The education ministry of the deposed Hamas government, which rules the Gaza Strip, is to teach Hebrew language at schools in the coastal enclave next year, an official said Monday.

Mohamed Shuqair, the ministry's secretary, told Xinhua that Hebrew language will be taught to ninth and 10th grades at Gaza Strip schools to enable the generations in Gaza "to understand how the Israeli community thinks."

"Teaching Hebrew at schools in the Gaza Strip would enable the pupils to have wider idea about this language and help them to have a broader knowledge when they join universities," said Shuqair.

The Hamas-run ministry of education has begun already to put plans on how to teach Hebrew "as part of teaching foreign languages at all schools." Hebrew was taught to schoolchildren until 1993.

Before the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was established in 1993, the Gaza Strip was under the Israeli occupation, and the Israeli civil administration, which was in charge of education, was teaching Hebrew at Gaza schools.

The PNA educational system allows schoolchildren to study two foreign languages beside English and Arabic. Teaching the two foreign languages is optional, where pupils can choose either Hebrew or another foreign language.

The national institute of the deposed government of Hamas in Gaza has been providing courses in Hebrew language to the Gaza Strip population and to those who are interested in the language.