Islamic University of Gaza - 2008 Israeli Strike

2008 Israeli Strike

Just after midnight December 28/29 local time, the Islamic University of Gaza was bombed in six separate air strikes as part of the December 2008 Gaza Strip airstrikes by the Israeli Air Force. An Israeli army spokeswoman told The Chronicle of Higher Education that university facilities were being used by Hamas to develop and store weapons including Qassam rockets used to target Israeli civilians. Hamas denied the Israeli allegation. According to claims by the Israeli based International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Hamas uses the University's laboratories to research and develop the Qassam rockets, in order to extend its range and lethality.

The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict examined the incident and disputed the Israeli claims, concluding that :"(The mission) also saw the destruction caused at the Islamic University and in other university buildings that were destroyed or damaged. These were civilian, educational buildings and the Mission did not find any information about their use as a military facility or their contribution to a military effort that might have made them a legitimate target in the eyes of the Israeli armed forces."

More specifically, Palestinian academics claim that the attack destroyed 74 labs, including, Microbiology, Hermatology, Genetics, Medical Technology and Medical Chemistry Labs, Physics Labs, Environmental and Earth Sciences Labs, Biology Labs, Biotechnology Labs, Optics Labs, Chemistry Labs, Engineering Labs, and Engineering and IT buildings.

In its response to the strike, the Islamic University of Gaza announced in a press release on January 21, 2009 that The University is an independent institution of higher education in Gaza and the largest among the Palestinian institutions that serve 20,000 students as an accredited member of several regional and international academic associations and organization. According to the press release, the attack destroyed the Science and Engineering buildings and damaged several others. The university called upon academics, local, regional and international higher educational and human rights institutions to speak out against the attacks. A number of international academic institutions have proceeded to express their commitment to support IUG as well as other universities in Gaza. The of which IUG is a member, has claimed to have written to the university to express its deep concern over the effects of the war, and to be ready to mobilize its member universities in support of the rebuilding efforts of the university. Similarly, Prof. Espen Bjertness of the University of Oslo and member of the Steering Committee of PEACE, stressed that “the sad situation for all academics caused by the bombing of our member university, Islamic University, Gaza and of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program calls for appropriate action”.