UN Experts Condemn Israeli Raid on Birzeit University as Systematic Attack on Palestinian Education

The UN experts criticised continued international cooperation with Israel in academic and military spheres, urging states to take concrete action.

United Nations human rights experts have strongly condemned Israel’s military assault on Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, warning that the raid reflects a systematic policy aimed at undermining Palestinian higher education rather than an isolated security incident.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the experts said raids on Palestinian universities, including arrests, intimidation and the criminalisation of student life, are part of long-standing occupation practices designed to dismantle educational institutions.

“Raids, arrests, intimidation, and the criminalisation of student life are tools used to undermine the right to education by attacking Palestinian institutions at their core,” the experts said. “Israel’s collective punishment measures are an extension of decades-old military occupation policies that seek to destroy the education sector.”

Militarised Raid During Academic Hours

The condemnation follows a raid on 6 January 2026, when Israeli soldiers and military vehicles stormed Birzeit University while more than 8,000 students were on campus.

According to reports cited by the experts, Israeli forces smashed the university’s main gate and fired live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades across the campus. Students fled classrooms seeking safety as gunfire and crowd-control weapons were deployed during teaching hours.

At least 41 people were injured, several by live fire, with multiple students reportedly still hospitalised.

“The storming of Birzeit University in broad daylight, during the academic semester, was a militarised assault on a civilian educational institution,” the experts said.“The use of live fire during teaching hours cannot be justified as ‘crowd control’ or ‘law enforcement.’”

Linked to Student Protest, No Security Justification

The raid coincided with a student union protest addressing violence against Palestinian prisoners and Israel’s system of mass political detention. UN experts noted that such raids are frequently conducted without any clear or lawful justification.

They warned that the January assault represents a dangerous escalation in Israel’s actions against Palestinian higher education and constitutes a clear violation of international law.

Longstanding Pattern of Targeting Birzeit University

Birzeit University, one of the most prominent Palestinian academic institutions in the occupied West Bank, has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli military operations.

The 6 January raid was the 26th assault on the university since 2002, according to the experts. Between October 2023 and December 2025, Israeli forces reportedly:

• Killed 37 university students in the West Bank;

• Injured 259 students;

• Detained 463 university students, including 148 from Birzeit University; and

• Detained 27 higher education staff, most under administrative detention without charge or trial.

“The purpose is disruption,” the experts said.“To deny Palestinians any sense of normalcy, and to fracture spaces that nurture critical thought, political consciousness and collective identity.”

They added that universities are deliberately targeted because they play a central role in sustaining Palestinian social, cultural and national life.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law

The experts said the assault violates the right to education and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including protections afforded under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

“Universities are civilian objects. Attacking them and injuring unarmed students breaches the principles of distinction, necessity and proportionality,” they said.“Israel is fully aware of these obligations—and acts in defiance of them.”

Part of Broader Policy of ‘Scholasticide’

The experts placed the Birzeit raid within what they described as Israel’s broader policy of “scholasticide”, a term recognised by the United Nations to describe the systematic destruction of education through attacks on students, educators and academic infrastructure.

“From the obliteration of every university in Gaza to the daily strangulation of academic life in the West Bank, this is an assault on a people’s past, present and future,” they said.

Call for International Action

The UN experts criticised continued international cooperation with Israel in academic and military spheres, urging states to take concrete action.

“It is unconscionable that States continue to treat as an ally a government that wages war on education and even reward it with academic partnerships,” they said.

“Education is not a privilege; it is a right. States must act now—ensure accountability, suspend military cooperation, and impose meaningful diplomatic and economic measures to bring Israel back to a path of legality.”