Watan-After more than 130 days of war on Gaza, many universities and educational institutions in the coastal sector have been left in ruins.
Israeli forces have killed at least 28,700 Palestinians since the start of the war on October 7th, and approximately 70% of the sector’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed.
While Palestine boasts one of the highest literacy rates in the world, the war on Gaza has devastated the education sector, resulting in the deaths of thousands of students and leaving hundreds of thousands out of school for nearly five months.
According to the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory, the Israeli occupation army has killed 94 university professors so far, along with hundreds of teachers, through “deliberate and targeted airstrikes” on the homes of academic, scientific, or intellectual figures.
A human rights organization stated: “The targeted academics have taught and lectured in a variety of academic disciplines, and many of their ideas have been cornerstones in academic research at universities in the Gaza Strip.”
The Middle East Eye website highlighted some of the academics and scholars who were killed in the war on Gaza:
1- Ameen Al-Buhaiti, Al-Azhar University Ameen Al-Buhaiti, 24, from Gaza, was a dentist and an assistant teacher at Al-Azhar University.
Al-Buhaiti was killed on November 5th after leaving his home to find food for his mother and nine siblings.
Dr. Amin Al-Bahtiti, 24 years old,
A dentist and an assistant lecturer at Al-Azhar University, beloved by all students for his high morals. He had a smiling face, laughing from the depths of his heart. He dreamt of opening his own dental clinic.
Extremely humble with a good… pic.twitter.com/r20xmeezN7
— Martyrs of Gaza (@GazaMartyrs) December 10, 2023
Israel cut off all supplies to the besieged territory, including food, water, electricity, fuel, and aid, on October 9th, forcing many Palestinians to leave their homes amidst heavy shelling to find food.
Al-Buhaiti’s body was found two days after he left his home.
He graduated from university in 2021, and one of his biggest aspirations was to open his own dental clinic. Tributes Online described him as “talented, intelligent, and hardworking.”
2- Adham Husuneh, Professor at Gaza and Al-Aqsa Universities Adham Husuneh was a professor at Gaza and Al-Aqsa Universities, as well as an independent journalist. Husuneh was killed along with several members of his family in an Israeli airstrike, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Journalist Adham Hassouna and his entire family have just been killed in an Israeli strike.
That’s the third journalist to be killed today after Abdallah Darwish and Montasser al-Sawwaf. pic.twitter.com/O9PRyF2YQ2
— Maha Hussaini (@MahaGaza) December 1, 2023
The airstrike targeted his home on December 1st.
3- Jihad Al-Masri, Al-Quds Open University Jihad Al-Masri was a historian and university professor, as well as the director of the Al-Quds Open University branch in Khan Younis.
He was killed on October 17th, succumbing to injuries sustained during an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis.
Reports indicate he was on his way to join his wife and daughter when the attack occurred.
Al-Masri was known for publishing research on Islamic history and Palestinian oral traditions in regional and international journals.
4- Tareq Thabet, College of Applied Sciences Tareq Thabet was a fellow at the University of Michigan in the United States and a professor in Gaza. He was a Fulbright scholar, studying economic development and entrepreneurship in developing countries as part of the Humphrey Fellowship program in Michigan.
He was killed in November in Gaza, along with 15 members of his extended family.
Thabet’s research focused on empowering small business owners in places like Gaza, where he was born.
According to Kyle Hess, director of the Humphrey program, Thabet hoped to take what he learned in the United States and bring it back to Gaza to help improve the local economy.
Engineer Tariq Thabet, one of the kindest and most incredible persons I’ve ever met in my life, a creative, persevering, energetic, intelligent and dedicated.
A few months ago, he was in the United States in a program supported by the United States.
He returned to #Gaza and was… pic.twitter.com/I1TUxLVviE
— عاصم النبيه (@AsemAlnabeh) November 2, 2023
His fellowship program issued a statement saying: “During his time at the University of Michigan, he drew on his extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and entrepreneurship through courses in finance and marketing, extensive networking with local counterparts, and speaking engagements with local community groups and youth.”
The community in East Lansing, Michigan, where he spent a year studying, mourned his loss, remembering his positive impact.
Thasin Sardar, a member of the board of trustees of the Islamic Center of East Lansing, said: “For someone coming from an area under siege by Israel, he had an extremely positive and optimistic outlook on life.”
He added: “He came here on a mission to learn, and he was trying to make the most out of his time very effectively and give back to his country.”
According to Sardar, multiple generations of his family were killed in the bombing.
5- Sufian Tayeh, Scientist Sufian Tayeh, the president of the Islamic University of Gaza, was a pioneering researcher in physics and applied mathematics.
He was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the al-Faluja neighborhood northeast of Gaza City on December 2nd. The airstrike also resulted in the deaths of several members of his family.
Tayeh was born in 1971 in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza and earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the Islamic University of Gaza.
BREAKING: Dr. Sufyan Tayeh, the President of the Islamic University of Gaza, was killed today in the Israeli massacre in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.#GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/tp77g6UB0m
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 2, 2023
He received the Palestinian Islamic Bank Award for Scientific Research for the years 2019 and 2020, in addition to several other awards.
According to reports, Tayeh was considered among the top 2% of scientific researchers worldwide in 2021.
He was also appointed as the head of UNESCO for physics and space sciences in Palestine.
6- Sireen Mohammad Al-Attar, Islamic University of Gaza Sireen Mohammad Al-Attar, born in 1984, was a gynecologist working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and also a professor at the Islamic University in Gaza.
She was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp on October 11th.
According to UNRWA, she was an exceptionally skilled medical specialist, holding Arab, Jordanian, and Palestinian board certifications in obstetrics and gynecology.
Al-Attar graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Al-Quds University and was a mother of three daughters.
UNRWA remembers her “for her kindness, deep love for her work, and the care and affection she showed to her patients, providing them with unwavering support.”
Ghada al-Jadba, head of UNRWA’s field health program in Gaza, said, “She was one of the best and most wonderful doctors and humanitarians I have met and worked with.”
7- Raed Qadura, Academic Raed Qadura, who held a Ph.D. from the National University of Malaysia, was killed on November 19th along with 29 other members of his family.
According to reports, his twin children were born two weeks before his death. Qadura was described as a “smart, talented writer and thinker.”
In 2022, he published an article in Mondoweiss about his grandfather’s expulsion from Jaffa in 1948.
Dr. Raed Qaddoura was killed along with his family in #Gaza last night, 29 members of his extended family including his parents, wife and children. His twin girls were born two weeks ago. All gone. Raed holds an MA from @unimalaya and a PhD from @ukm_my in political science . pic.twitter.com/9xSrmdzqOD
— Yousef Aljamal 🪁 (@YousefAljamal) November 20, 2023
8- Saher Yaghi, Psychologist Saher Yaghi, the renowned professor and psychologist, worked in the Ministry of Education in Gaza. His body was found after an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in December.
He was killed along with his wife and children, as announced by one of his neighbors and a family friend on social media on December 10th.
Yaghi worked with several non-profit organizations and served as a coordinator for ensuring school quality for over nine years.
He also worked with UNRWA as a supervisor for special educational needs and as a mental health consultant.
Yaghi graduated from the University of Calgary in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in rehabilitation, then pursued his studies at the Islamic University of Gaza, where he obtained a master’s degree in psychology in 2006.
- Ibrahim Al-Astal, Islamic University of Gaza Ibrahim Al-Astal, a professor and dean of the Islamic University of Gaza, was born in 1961. He was an educational figure and researcher, spending many years writing and editing publications related to educational and psychological studies.
Al-Astal was killed in an Israeli attack on October 23rd, along with his wife, daughters, and several other family members. According to some reports, 87 members of his family were killed in the airstrikes.
He was known for his work on programs aimed at improving the quality of technological education in universities and colleges in Gaza.
In 2005, he contributed to the writing of a book titled “The Teaching Profession and the Roles of Teachers in the School of the Future.”
- Saeed Al-Dahshan, Expert in International Law Saeed Talal Al-Dahshan was an expert in international law and an author. He and his family were killed in Gaza on October 11th.
In his book, “The International Trial of Israel and Its Leaders for Their Crimes Against the Palestinians,” he outlines the legal path for holding Israel accountable for violating international laws.
Ismail Thabetah, head of the government media office in Gaza, stated that Al-Dahshan, like many other academics in Gaza, was deliberately targeted.
He added that “Israel systematically targets senior Palestinian academics to inflict maximum harm on the Palestinian society and obstruct future scientific and technological development.”