President of Islamic University in Gaza killed in Israeli airstrike

GAZA: The President of the Gaza Islamic University in the Gaza Strip, Sufyan Tayeh, and his family were killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike.

According to reports, the academic was killed in an airstrike in the Al-Faluja area in Jabalia in the northeastern Gaza Strip.

“Academician and President of the Islamic University Dr Sufyan Tayeh and his family were martyred today as a result of (an Israeli) occupation airstrike on the Faluja area in Gaza,” Education Minister Mahmoud Abu Mouis said in a statement.

Professor Tayeh was a prominent Palestinian scientist and the president of the Islamic University of Gaza, the Strip’s leading academic institution.

Born in 1971 in northern Gaza, Tayeh was a researcher in physics and applied mathematics. He was classified in 2021 being in the 2 percent of the best researchers in the world.

Tayeh’s research has been recognized internationally, including by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 183 Palestinian teachers have been killed by Israel since October 7. About 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across various areas of Gaza since Friday morning, as Israel resumed its aggression after a seven-day truce.

Since October 7, over 15,207 Palestinians, including over 6,200 children and more than 4,000 women were killed, with another 40,652 wounded, according to the

The death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has soared to 15,207 since the outbreak of the conflict on October 7, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said.

The Israeli army resumed bombing the Gaza Strip early Friday after declaring an end to a week-long humanitarian pause. Israel launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.