Gazan universities call for global support after Israeli bombing

Palestinian university leaders have called for institutions worldwide to condemn attacks by Israel on the Islamic University of Gaza.

Israeli forces carried out two air strikes on the institution on 25 October, while students were attending lectures, killing three university staff members and injuring seven students, some critically.

The strike came despite Israel agreeing to a ceasefire with Palestine in October 2025. An estimated 1,400 people have been killed in continued strikes since then.

The Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza, which represents institutions from Gaza’s non-profit higher education sector, condemned the latest attacks and called for an “urgent escalation” in international academic solidarity.

“This systematic assault on knowledge has already killed hundreds of our academics and more than 1,300 of our students. It has injured thousands of university faculty, staff, and students. That universities continue to be targeted even as they struggle to restore teaching and learning demonstrates that our students and faculty remain on the frontlines of a battle for the survival of higher education in Palestine,” they write.

“The international academic community must respond to these renewed attacks with urgent and decisive action. We call on universities and scholarly associations worldwide to publicly condemn these attacks, demand their immediate end and ensure accountability for violations of international law.”

It called on universities to “establish and strengthen” institutional partnerships with Gaza’s universities, supporting the continuation of teaching, research and their rebuilding.

The committee also urged universities to offer financial support for its official scholarship scheme ISNAD, which raises funds to directly cover students’ tuition fees. One £800 donation can fund the tuition fees for one student for a whole academic year and allows universities to continue receiving tuition fee income.

Israeli bombardment had already destroyed much of IUG’s campus but teaching had continued amid the ruins.

The attacks occurred just days before Israelis went to the polls for a parliamentary election in which prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost his majority.

The UK’s University and College Union has also condemned the attacks, sending its “deepest condolences and solidarity” to those affected as well as the wider Palestinian community. 

UCU said that the attack represents a “renewed escalation in Israel’s ongoing destruction of Palestinian higher education” and called the attacks on Gaza’s universities “scholasticide”.

“It is particularly horrifying that students and staff, who have demonstrated extraordinary courage and determination in resuming education amid the ruins of their universities, should once again be subjected to military violence,” said UCU general secretary Jo Grady.

“The determination of Palestine’s academics and students to continue their educational mission in the face of relentless attacks is an extraordinary act of resistance and collective resilience, and inspires us all. They must not be left to fight for the survival of their universities alone.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com