Israeli occupation forces have destroyed the main buildings of the Al-Israa University, located south of Gaza City.
The targeted structures housed graduate and undergraduate colleges, as well as a national museum.
In a press statement, Al-Israa University said that the assault extended beyond the main building to include the national museum, which contained over 3,000 rare archaeological artifacts. The occupying forces looted these valuable assets before destroying the museum.
Additionally, the Israeli military blew up the first and only university hospital in Gaza, as well as buildings housing medical and engineering laboratories, nursing labs, media training studios, the law college’s court hall, and graduation halls.
The Israeli warplanes blew up the University of al-Israa in Gaza City with 315 mines. All the universities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. pic.twitter.com/iZUhzAKaUw
— Wafa News Agency – English (@WAFANewsEnglish) January 18, 2024
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the contents of these facilities, vital for students in various disciplines, were plundered before the structures were demolished by the forces.
These buildings have recently been transformed into shelters for displaced civilian families in the wake of the ongoing Israeli aggression.
The cafeteria buildings and the main mosque within the university’s compound were also reportedly bombed and destroyed.
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The Israeli aggression further targeted the building of the diploma studies in the university’s branch in northern Gaza, as well as the building of continuing education and vocational training situated in the Rimal neighborhood.
The university explained in its statements that the Israeli forces used the hospital as a military base and an outpost for sniping civilian residents. The hospital was temporarily turned by the Israeli troops into a detention center for field investigations of civilians.
Al-Israa University emphasized that the targeting of educational institutions is a longstanding and systematic pattern that has persisted since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli war of genocide.
“The Israeli occupiers, through these actions, aim to propagate a culture of ignorance, keeping our people away from the march of knowledge and civilization, and forcibly displacing intellectuals beyond Palestine with the assistance of Western migration institutions,” the statement added.
According to the Gaza government media office, Israeli forces have destroyed more than 390 schools and universities in the first 100 days of war.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 24,620 Palestinians have been killed, and 61,830 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, WAFA)
