Gaza's Universities Issue Urgent Global Appeal: "Scholasticide" Threatens Education's Future

Gaza Strip – July 20, 2025 – In a desperate and unified plea to the international academic community, the presidents of Gaza's three non-profit universities – Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University-Gaza, and the Islamic University of Gaza – have issued an open letter highlighting an unprecedented and systematic assault on higher education in Gaza. These institutions, which collectively serve between 80% and 85% of Gaza’s students and faculty, declare: "Our campuses may have been razed, but our universities continue to exist."

The letter, dated July 20, 2025, details the devastating impact of what they term "scholasticide" – a systematic and deliberate attempt to eliminate their universities, including infrastructure, faculty, and students. This destruction, they argue, is not merely collateral damage but a targeted effort to eradicate the very foundations of higher education in Gaza, which have historically served as pillars of resilience, hope, and intellectual freedom amidst occupation and siege. While Palestinian academic institutions have endured attacks for decades, the current scale represents a perilous escalation toward total annihilation.

The Unbroken Spirit: Teaching Amidst Unimaginable Devastation

Despite the physical obliteration of over 80% of Gaza's university buildings – including entire campuses, laboratories, and libraries – and the tragic loss of hundreds of academic staff, administrators, and students, Gaza's academic communities remain resolute. "We are more than buildings," the presidents assert, "we are academic communities, comprised of students, faculty, and staff, still alive and determined to carry forward our mission." This sentiment echoes the "Unified Emergency Statement from Palestinian Academics and Administrators" issued on May 29, 2024, which declared: "Israeli occupation forces have demolished our buildings, but our universities live on."

For more than a year, under unimaginable conditions, faculty, staff, and students have persisted in their core mission of teaching. Constant bombardment, widespread starvation, severe restrictions on internet access, unstable electricity, and the ongoing horrors of the humanitarian crisis have failed to break their will. "We are still here, still teaching, and still committed to the future of education in Gaza," the presidents affirm.

The Scale of Destruction: Factual Background

Prior to the current conflict, Gaza's higher education sector was a vital component of Palestinian society, with its universities playing a crucial role in teaching, research, and societal development.

Combined, these three non-profit institutions served approximately 80,000 students, representing the vast majority of all higher education enrollment in Gaza.

The impact of the ongoing conflict on this vital sector is catastrophic:

• Physical Destruction: By July 2025, over 80% of Gaza’s university buildings, encompassing campuses, libraries, laboratories, and administrative offices, have been destroyed or rendered unusable. The main campuses of the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University have been completely flattened.

• Human Losses: Hundreds of academic staff, administrators, and students, including prominent professors and leading scholars, have been killed. Countless students have been displaced, injured, or orphaned, severely interrupting their educational and career trajectories.

• Systematic Targeting ("Scholasticide"): Academics and international organisations use the term "scholasticide" to describe the apparent systematic targeting of educational infrastructure. Evidence includes repeated air strikes on university buildings and schools, with over 400 schools and educational facilities destroyed or severely damaged since October 2023, affecting over 600,000 students. This systematic destruction extends to digital infrastructure, science equipment, teaching materials, and archives representing decades of academic contributions.

• Broader Humanitarian Crisis: The devastation is compounded by a broader humanitarian catastrophe. Over 37,000 Gazans have been killed since October 2023 (as of July 2025), including thousands of children, students, and educators. More than 1.7 million people have been displaced, leading to a mass exodus of students and staff from campus communities. Internet blackouts, lack of electricity, water, and basic supplies render effective education nearly impossible, while widespread trauma, malnutrition, and disease present long-term challenges for any potential recovery.

The Resilience and a Call for "Practical Solidarity"

Despite these atrocities, Gaza’s educators have demonstrated remarkable resilience, consistently striving to maintain instructional continuity. This includes volunteer-run online education networks (when internet access permits) and informal "makeshift learning centres" in displacement camps or ruined buildings. Academic staff have consistently called for international solidarity, "twinning" programs, and material support from foreign universities.

The presidents of Gaza's universities urgently call on their colleagues worldwide for a multi-pronged response:

1. A Sustainable and Lasting Ceasefire: Without this fundamental precondition, no education system can hope to thrive. They also demand an end to all complicity with the current crisis.

2. Immediate International Mobilisation: Support and protection for Gaza’s higher education institutions are deemed vital for the survival and long-term future of the Palestinian people.

3. Recognition of "Scholasticide": This systematic war on education necessitates coordinated and strategic international support, in genuine partnership with Gaza's universities, for the resilience and rebuilding of their academic infrastructure and communities.

They appeal specifically to the international academic community – colleagues, institutions, and friends – to:

• Support ongoing teaching and research efforts under siege and amidst profound loss.

• Commit to the long-term rebuilding of Gaza’s universities, ensuring partnerships respect institutional autonomy and academic agency.

• Engage directly and strategically with the institutions that continue to embody academic life and collective intellectual resistance in Gaza.

To facilitate this, the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza was formally established last year, representing the three main institutions and their affiliated colleges. This committee provides a unified voice and coordinated channels for support through subject-focused subcommittees.

The time for symbolic gestures, the presidents declare, has passed. They now ask for practical, structured, and enduring partnerships. "Work alongside us to ensure that Gaza’s universities live on and remain a vital part of our collective future," the letter concludes.

International academic bodies such as UNESCO and the International Association of Universities have condemned attacks on Gaza's education sector, calling for investigations into potential violations of international law. Dozens of universities and academic organisations globally have established emergency partnerships, fundraising campaigns, and online support channels for Gaza's students and displaced academics. Calls for "practical solidarity" encompass scholarships for displaced students, fellowships for threatened scholars, and collaborative efforts to rebuild libraries, digital repositories, and laboratories.

The deliberate or repeated targeting of educational institutions in armed conflict is a clear violation under international humanitarian law, specifically Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the UNESCO Hague Convention. Scholars argue that the Gaza case constitutes "scholasticide," an attack on the fundamental right to learn and teach, representing an existential threat to Palestinian identity and national development. Continued international advocacy for stronger mechanisms to protect education and prosecute attacks against educational institutions as war crimes remains crucial.

The devastation wrought upon Gaza’s universities is unprecedented in its scale and gravity. The global academic community is urged to respond with deep, sustained partnerships built on mutual respect and agency. Let the world's classrooms, laboratories, and libraries stand in solidarity—not only with words, but with concrete action—so that higher learning in Gaza may not only endure but, one day, flourish again. The urgent call reverberates: End all atrocities. End all attacks on education. Let Gaza’s universities live.