• Gaza’s Government Media Office says systematic campaign seeks to cripple higher education, create long-term intellectual vacuum
• UN experts warn targeting professors, educators and cultural figures amounts to war crimes

GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Beyond the destruction of homes, hospitals and schools, Israel’s war on Gaza has struck at the very heart of Palestinian intellectual life.

At least 193 academics and professors have been killed, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office, in what officials and UN experts describe as an attempt to erase knowledge, culture, and leadership from the besieged enclave.

“Targeting scholars and academics is a systematic policy to create a long-term intellectual and cultural vacuum, weaken national institutions, and deprive future generations of accumulated expertise and knowledge,” Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Government Media Office, told Anadolu.

He said Israel’s campaign aims “to dismantle Palestinian national identity, marginalize independent critical voices, and generate fear that drives educated elites into exile.”

The office said more than 800 teachers and education staff have also been killed since the war began in October 2023, underscoring what it called a broad assault on Palestinian education.  

Academics under attack

​​​​​​​The toll includes some of Gaza’s most prominent intellectuals:

– Sufyan Tayeh, a physicist and president of the Islamic University of Gaza, was killed with his family in a December 2023 airstrike on Jabalia.

– Adnan al-Barsh, one of Gaza’s top orthopedic surgeons and professor of medicine, died in Israeli custody in May after being detained while working at Al-Awda Hospital.

– Nasser Abu al-Nour, dean of nursing at the Islamic University, was killed with his family in a February strike on Rafah.

– Naeem Baroud, dean of arts, was killed with relatives in an October 2024 airstrike on Al-Shati refugee camp.

– Jihad al-Masri, director of Al-Quds Open University in Khan Younis, was killed by Israeli army fire in October 2023.

– Ahmed al-Dalou, dean of medicine at Palestine University, was killed in a Gaza City strike that also claimed the lives of 43 relatives.

– Ahmed Abu Absa, dean of engineering at Palestine University, was killed in December 2023.

– Ibrahim al-Astal, dean of education at the Islamic University, was killed in October 2023.

– Taysir Ibrahim, dean of Sharia and law, was killed with his family in October 2023.

– Said al-Zubda, president of the University College of Applied Sciences, was killed in December 2023.

– Refaat Alareer, professor of English literature, was killed in December 2023, weeks after receiving online threats.
Alareer’s death in particular sparked a wave of grief among students and colleagues, who shared his poems, lectures and social media posts that chronicled Gaza’s agony.  

Assault on education, identity

Al-Thawabta said Israel’s strategy seeks to destroy not only Gaza’s physical infrastructure but also its human capital.

“This is an attack on the minds that carry knowledge and leadership,” he said, warning of efforts to silence critical voices, erode cultural identity, and obstruct any future project of reconstruction.
He urged urgent international action “to protect Palestinian intellectual and human capital before it is too late.”

UN experts have warned that the deliberate targeting of scholars, teachers and cultural figures constitutes war crimes under international law.

Observers caution that the killing of Gaza’s academics risks silencing a generation of Palestinian thought leaders, leaving universities in ruins and depriving young people of mentors who could guide them into the future.

Israel has killed more than 62,700 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.