Israeli Military Forces Storm Birzeit and Al-Quds Universities
In the early hours of Tuesday, 9 December 2025, Israeli military forces carried out coordinated raids on two Palestinian universities in the occupied West Bank – Birzeit University, north of Ramallah, and Al-Quds University in Abu Dis – marking a serious escalation in the ongoing attacks on Palestinian higher education.
Birzeit University Council announced that occupation forces stormed the campus at approximately 5:30 a.m., with eight military vehicles entering the university’s three main gates. Members of the university’s security staff were restrained before forces raided several buildings and facilities, causing extensive damage to infrastructure, offices, and equipment.
Birzeit stressed that the attack was not an isolated incident, but part of a systematic policy targeting Palestinian education in violation of international laws and conventions that protect academic institutions. The university noted that more than 150 of its students are currently held in Israeli detention, and that this raid marks the twenty-fifth incursion into the campus since 2002.
Shortly after the raid on Birzeit University, Israeli military forces stormed the main campus of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem. In its statement, the university administration strongly condemned the raid, which took place just one day after the university hosted a Christmas tree lighting ceremony attended by representatives of Palestinian Christian denominations.
The university reported the widespread deployment of soldiers across the campus, including the intimidation and interrogation of students inside their classrooms during lectures. Al Quds condemned the incursion as a dangerous escalation and a direct violation of students’ safety, academic freedom, and the sanctity of the university campus.
These attacks will not deter Palestinian universities from upholding the right to education, nor from continuing their academic and humanitarian role in the face of systematic assault.
— Birzeit University Council, December 9, 2025
Despite repeated violations, Birzeit and Al-Quds universities reaffirmed their determination to continue their educational, academic, and civic missions, and called on the international community to take concrete steps to protect Palestinian universities, ensure safe learning environments, and hold Israel – the occupying power – accountable under international law.
