There are good reasons for avoiding talk of this conflict in schools

I do work in a school and I don’t believe that having a discussion of the sort you describe would stop them spreading rumours and damaging misinformation or whipping up outrage against a minority view. It’s too volatile a topic and adolescents are often naturally volatile anyway.
I don’t know if you are a teacher- but have you considered the different classroom contexts across the country. In some schools there are large numbers of Muslim students who may have family members in Gaza. How can you expect them to conduct a reasoned and respectful discussion with people who hold alternative views? What about the one Muslim or Palestinian origin / or Jewish child in a class of people who hold different views? Is it fair to do that?
These are not politicians - they won’t necessarily have the tools to manage a topic that is so emotive if they have personal family involvement.
In my view - the best approach ( if in a religious school) is to offers prayers in assemblies for all who are suffering and prayers that truth and justice will prevail The prayers could be offered from representatives of all religions present.
I accept this doesn’t offer anything for atheists but maybe a Humanist reflection could also be offered.

Absolutely this

What if it’s the kids wanting the debate?That’s what happened at ds school, teacher was confident enough to roll with it. These are year 10 so 14/15 year olds.
In a few years they will be at Uni, no harm in hearing things they might not agree with or that makes them feel uncomfortable. Maybe just maybe they might learn something or see things from a different perspective?
Thinking on my experiences I'd say:

My job is to teach them, not have whatever debates the students want to have.

Any teacher who has been in the classroom more than 5 minutes will have heard complaints about not wanting to write an essay or "are we doing something fun today?" which translates as "are you going to give us a doss lesson?". The trick is that the students actually want a member of staff who is friendly and calmly in control, not a member of staff who is a weathervane.

Not everyone who is confident at doing those sorts of discussions is necessarily competent at it.

The most competent colleagues I've known who can handle challenging debates are not the colleagues who tended to get dragged into impromptu debates.

Those of us who are competent at managing difficult topics and discussions will tend to have a sense of collective responsibility to not set our colleagues up for "but Mr Smith allowed us to debate (Topic) in his lesson". Why would I want to do something that creates issues for my colleagues?

Responsible adults try to make sure the next generation are free from the toxicity they had to endure. And that includes this terrible conflict

I’m honestly tired of this . I know where I stand and it’s with the children I teach who are sad, frightened and angry . I don’t want them to turn against each other. I want them to know they are all good and worthy of respect.

So all the children wanted the debate- or just the dominant group? I’m uncomfortable with things being cancelled and I’m not a fan of encouraging over sensitivity… but we’re not talking about the sensitivity over gender identity- we are talking about people being slaughtered ( on both sides) Let’s not pretend that’s an easy debate with teenagers 🙄

Antisemitism means the hatred towards and prejudice against Jewish people and Jewish people alone.
The word antisemitism is taken from 'antisemitismus', a pseudo-scientific name for Jew hatred. This term was coined by a German journalist, Wilhelm Marr in around 1879. He and others, believed that all Jews belonged to 'the Semitic race'. However, Semitic does not refer to a group of people, but is a linguistic term that refers to a group of languages traditionally spoken in the Middle East and parts of Africa, including Amharic, a language spoken in Ethiopia, as well as Hebrew and Arabic.
The unhyphenated spelling, 'antisemitism' rather than 'anti-Semitism', is preferred in order to dispel the idea that there is an entity “Semitism” which “anti-Semitism” opposes. Antisemitism should be read as a unified term so that the meaning of the generic term for modern Jew-hatred is clear.
It is accurate to use the word antisemitism to describe Jew hatred because that's precisely what it means. Even without an explanation, an Internet search will tell you what antisemitism means.
@gestroopd you don't have to use the term antisemitism. However, to say the term means anything other than solely Jew hatred, is in itself antisemitic.
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/religious-prejudice-antisemitism
https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/spelling-antisemitism
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/a-definition-of-antisemitism

What if it’s the kids wanting the debate? That’s what happened at ds school, teacher was confident enough to roll with it. These are year 10 so 14/15 year olds. In a few years they will be at Uni, no harm in hearing things they might not agree with or that makes them feel uncomfortable. Maybe just maybe they might learn something or see things from a different perspective?
We hear about Universities where people are getting “cancelled” because some students can’t handle different opinions. I find that worrying.

This is easy to say when you're not the upset or offended child.

I'd much rather my child have teachers who are sensitive to their feelings than one who gets up on their soapbox and insists on a debate.

Indeed.

Chikdren spouting stuff from social media, goodness tic toc and x are cesspools are made up rubbish and hatred, what could possibly go wrong 🤔

Hmm … You do know how social media can blow up the “ offence” ? It’s all very well to say let’s just allow debate but teachers have to deal with the fall out. And I want my pupils to feel safe and respected.

I don’t think we should get over paranoid about this. If we constantly worried about kids getting upset or offended there would be no discussion or debate in schools.

I think this thread is going round in circles and getting repetitive. The majority agree that debating the issue in schools is unwise but also acknowledge that the issue may need to be addressed if it comes up as an issue in the school community that is having a negative impact on students. In my experience working with teens it is often local issues that creep into schools that can lead to unrest among students and schools are in the main very good at dealing with it.

I remember studying the middle east and Israel in GCSE history. It was definitely one of the modules.