Israeli forces raided Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, firing live rounds, stun grenades and tear gas while students were on campus, leaving dozens wounded and 11 hospitalized. Birzeit University and Palestine’s education ministry condemned the incursion as a violation of protections for educational institutions. The raid followed a solidarity event for Palestinian detainees and a film screening; the Israeli army said it targeted a gathering "in support of terrorism." Separately, Israel advanced a tender for the disputed E1 settlement project near East Jerusalem, which critics say would fragment the West Bank.
Israeli Raid on Birzeit University Wounds Dozens as Israel Moves Ahead With Controversial E1 Tender
People walk past bloodstains where Palestinians were wounded by Israeli troops on Tuesday [Alaa Badarneh/EPA]
Dozens of students and staff were wounded after Israeli forces entered Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank and fired live rounds, stun grenades and tear gas while classes were in session and people were on campus, witnesses and medical sources said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported that three people were shot in the legs, five suffered from tear gas inhalation and three were struck by flying shrapnel. Al Jazeera’s correspondent at the scene reported 41 people wounded in total, 11 of whom were hospitalized; the Palestinian Ministry of Health said 11 patients were taken to the Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah.
Soldiers forced open the university gates as students and staff fled in panic, according to video and eyewitness accounts. Birzeit University issued a statement, reported by Wafa, calling the operation “a flagrant and deliberate violation of the sanctity of universities and educational institutions” and saying that turning the campus into a military zone appeared intended to intimidate students and undermine their right to education.
The raid followed a student event in solidarity with thousands of Palestinian detainees held incommunicado in Israeli prisons and coincided with a screening of the film "Hind Rajab," about a six-year-old girl who was shot and killed during fighting in Gaza. The Israeli army said it targeted what it described as a “gathering in support of terrorism” at the university.
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Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim: “It was unprecedented. People say they have never seen anything like it. This is the first time Israeli forces raided the campus while classes were in session and fired live rounds, not only tear gas.”
Palestine’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education condemned the incursion, saying it violated international norms that protect educational institutions and would not "break the will of Palestinian students or staff." The ministry called on international university associations and human rights organizations to denounce the shooting.
E1 Settlement Tender Advances
Separately, Israeli authorities cleared an administrative tender that paves the way for initial work on the contentious E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem, according to the NGO Peace Now. The tender invites bids from developers and, Peace Now said, initial work could begin within weeks.
The E1 area has been under discussion for more than two decades but was previously frozen amid international pressure. Critics and many in the international community view settlement construction in the West Bank as illegal under international law and an obstacle to a two-state solution. Opponents say E1 would sever territorial contiguity between parts of the West Bank and make a contiguous Palestinian state far more difficult to establish.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees settlement policy, has championed the plan. After final approval he said the move was part of broader actions that, in his view, diminish prospects for a Palestinian state.
The incident at Birzeit and the E1 tender are likely to draw renewed international scrutiny and condemnation, and raise concerns about the protection of educational institutions and the future of the West Bank’s territorial integrity.
