GENEVA, (PIC)
The Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights has said that the systematic and wide-ranging targeting of universities and cultural institutions by the Israeli occupation army is eliminating the last traces of life in the Gaza Strip, in another aspect of perpetuating the genocide that it has been carrying out since October 7th of last year.
The Euro-Med Monitor highlighted in a statement on Friday that the continuous Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip have led to a complete disruption of the educational process in universities, colleges, and community centers. However, the grave repercussions did not stop there.
It pointed out that three university presidents were martyred in Israeli airstrikes, along with more than 95 deans and professors, including 68 individuals holding the rank of professor. At the same time, 88,000 students were deprived of continuing their university education, and 555 students were unable to join scholarships abroad.
The Geneva-based Monitor warned that out of the six universities in the Gaza Strip, five were destroyed by Israeli targeting, three of them completely destroyed, according to the preliminary results of the severity of the continuous Israeli destruction in the region.
The Euro-Med Monitor reported that on February 6th, Israeli warplanes targeted Al-Aqsa University in Gaza City, causing extensive damage, including the complete destruction of two buildings and scattered partial losses after storming the university campus on foot.
Prior to that, Al-Isra University was completely destroyed after its headquarters were detonated and all its buildings and facilities were demolished by the Israeli occupation army on January 17th, after the army had turned it into military barracks and a detention center for over two months.
The destruction of Al-Isra University included all its buildings, libraries, and laboratories that were established before the attack, as well as the destruction of the mosque located inside the university campus. The destruction also extended to the National Museum, which was licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Antiquities and contained more than three thousand rare archaeological pieces. It is suspected that the Israeli army looted these artifacts, according to the official statement issued by the university administration following the destruction.
As for Al-Azhar University, its main headquarters in Gaza City and its branch in the Maghazi area were completely destroyed by repeated Israeli airstrikes directly targeting them on October 11th, November 4th, and November 21st of last year.
In the same context, Al-Quds Open University suffered significant destruction in its headquarters in Gaza City after the Israeli army stormed it on November 15th, in addition to targeting its branch in the northern area.
Similarly, the Islamic University in Gaza City was completely destroyed due to intensive Israeli aerial bombardment on October 11th, damaging the Information Technology College building, the Dean’s Office for Community Service and Continuing Education building, and the College of Science building, along with all their equipment, libraries, laboratories, and furniture.
The mosque located within the university campus was also destroyed, in violation of the rules of international law that prohibit attacks on places of worship. Such targeting constitutes a serious violation and a war crime according to the rules of international humanitarian law.
Two days before the Islamic University was targeted, the Israeli army launched several airstrikes on the premises of the Al-Ribat College in Gaza City, resulting in the destruction of large parts of it.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the losses in the education sector in the Gaza Strip due to demolition and destruction, with 70% of schools and universities affected, exceed $720 million.
The Euro-Med Monitor estimates that the material losses incurred by the universities alone due to the destruction exceed $200 million.
It emphasized that the crimes committed by Israel, through wide-scale and deliberate destruction of buildings designated for educational, artistic, scientific, religious, and historical purposes, constitute grave violations and war crimes according to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
It also affirmed that these actions are part of Israel’s recent openly declared policies, aiming to make the Gaza Strip an uninhabitable place, forcibly displacing its inhabitants by creating an environment devoid of the basic elements of life and services.
