Israeli forces condemned for 'barbaric' blowing up of Gaza university

A Palestinian university denounced the blowing up of its main buildings by Israeli forces in Gaza City.

In a statement on Thursday, Israa University said the "barbaric aggression" was part of an Israeli policy against Palestinian education. 

It added that soldiers occupied the university buildings for 70 days, turning it into a military base to detain and interrogate civilians, as well as using it as a station for snipers to shoot at unarmed people in the area. 

Before the building was blown up, valuable contents, including rare artefacts, were stolen by soldiers, it added.

Birzeit University, a leading Palestinian university in the occupied West Bank, also issued a statement condemning the "brutal assault" which it said was part of a plan to make Gaza uninhabitable. 

"The attack wasn't only on the campus, but it was also against the national museum established by the university, containing more than 3,000 rare artefacts which the Israeli occupation stole, and then bombed the museum to cover up for the crime," Birzeit said. 

"Birzeit University reaffirms the fact that this crime is part of the Israeli occupation's onslaught against the Palestinians. It's all a part of the Israeli occupation's goal to make Gaza uninhabitable; a continuation of the genocide being carried out in Gaza Strip."