Students, staff work to bring the Islamic University of Gaza back to life

Before the war, the Islamic University of Gaza was one of the leading public universities in the Palestinian enclave.Despite the challenges of Israeli air attacks and a siege on Gaza, it worked to provide the best possible academic environment for students.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Can AI systems make moral decisions in war?list 2 of 4What does Khalil al-Hayya’s election win mean for Gaza?list 3 of 4Head of police in northern Gaza killed in Israeli strikelist 4 of 4US court affirms release of pro-Palestine scholar as legal battle continuesend of listOf particular focus were fields relying heavily on practical training, such as medicine, health sciences and engineering. But Israel’s crippling hold on Gaza posed huge challenges in teaching these disciplines.Still, students spent hours in laboratories, working with medical equipment, handling samples and applying what they had learned theoretically in classrooms to ready themselves for futures in science, medicine and engineering.All this changed on October 8, 2023, when Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began. It saw university campuses bombed and a tightening of a siege that restricted the entry of even pens and not...