In the 34 years Ahmed Abu Shaban has studied and worked at Gaza’s Al-Azhar University, his department has been destroyed four times – most recently, like much of the rest of Gazan higher education, in Israel’s bombardment of the strip following the 7 October attacks.
So, despite facing a long road to recovery, Abu Shaban, who studied his undergraduate degree at the university, before rising through the ranks to become dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, said the mood in the sector is one of “resilience”. After all, they have managed to rebuild themselves many times before.
A new report by the Friends of Palestinian Universities has attempted to draw together the extent of the physical damage, highlighting how Unesco has put the overall cost at $373 million (£278 million) since 2023. Of 206 university buildings assessed, 195 were destroyed or severely damaged.
The damage to life is far greater. More than 1,372 university students and more than 246 academics and university staff have been killed, the report, titled Scholasticide in Gaza, found, including three university presidents and nine college deans.
These attacks are not “collateral damage”, it says, but form part of a “scholasticide”: “a deliberate strategy of systematic annihilation and erasure of education”, it argues.
