Students and staff work to bring Islamic University of Gaza back to life
The Islamic University of Gaza is attempting to resume operations following extensive destruction during the 2023–2025 conflict. The institution lost 19 educational buildings, over 500 classrooms, 200 scientific laboratories, and its central library containing 240,000 volumes, with university leadership describing the damage as among the greatest disasters in its history.
The Islamic University of Gaza functioned as a leading public institution in the Palestinian enclave before October 2023, with particular emphasis on practical disciplines including medicine, health sciences, and engineering. Students engaged extensively in laboratory work, utilizing medical equipment and samples to bridge theoretical classroom instruction with professional preparation. The university had recently acquired anatomy models and educational skeletons to enhance practical training environments when conflict began.
Israeli military operations commencing October 8, 2023, fundamentally altered the institution's capacity to operate. Bombing campaigns destroyed significant portions of campus infrastructure, laboratories, and equipment, while concurrent restrictions on material imports prevented even basic supplies such as pens and notebooks from entering Gaza. The destruction extended across 19 educational buildings, approximately 500 classrooms, 200 scientific laboratories, and 75 computer facilities. The central library sustained losses exceeding 240,000 volumes, journals, references, and academic theses accumulated over five decades.
According to Abdulraouf Ali al-Manama, dean of the health sciences faculty, the three-year period represented one of the university's greatest disasters, with most academic structures, research facilities, and training clinics destroyed alongside thousands of scientific instruments and materials. Campus buildings were repurposed as temporary shelters for displaced populations, compounding operational challenges.
Current obstacles to educational resumption include insufficient classroom facilities, chronic electricity and internet disruptions, and documented psychological impacts on students and staff. Physical access remains problematic, as students struggle to reach campus or training locations amid ongoing displacement and infrastructure damage. Despite a ceasefire beginning October 2025, the university continues efforts to rebuild educational capacity from the remaining ruins.
Bell tracks these organizations in depth — profiles, people, signals, and history. See them inside Bell →
The live signal stream across the Qatari market.