-300 Islamic scholars including former Al-Aqsa Imam killed
- Specialist doctors, professors, poets-writers, journalists being targeted
Israel is de intellectualizing Palestine by target-killing in Gaza which has been intensified since 7 October of the last year. At least 143 journalists and media workers, 300 Islamic scholars, 500 doctors and health workers are among the nearly 35,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began.
It should be noted that Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead while reporting on an Israeli military raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022. The journalist was standing with a group of other reporters and wearing a vest clearly marked PRESS. It seems that she passed away by Israeli target killing.
Recently, Israeli forces killed Dr. Ahmad Maqadmeh, a reconstructive surgeon, at al-Shifa Hospital along with his mother, who was also a doctor. Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, was declared dead by Israeli prison authorities at Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on April 19, according to a joint statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs.
Israeli strike killed Sheikh Yousef Salama, who was a former Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Minister of Religious Affairs of Palestine Authority (PA) in his home in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes targeted the home of Sheikh Salama, leading to his murder and the injury of several members of his family. More than 300 Islamic scholars and sheiks, including Quran instructors, Islamic preachers, and imams, have been killed so far in the military assaults, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs.
According to Middle East Eye, more than 500 mosques have been completely flattened, and dozens of mosques have been partially destroyed, including the historic Al-Omari Mosque. Three churches have also been reduced to rubble, including the historic Church of Saint Porphyrius. The ministry’s main building and the Quran Podcast Institute were also struck and damaged by Israeli raids. Despite the massive losses, the ministry continues its work by delivering sermons and messages of hope and patience in displacement camps and hospitals, reopening damaged mosques for prayers, and holding Quran teaching and memorisation sessions.
A ministry spokesperson said that Israel's targeting of mosques and Muslim scholars is "a deliberate act aimed at breaking the faith of Palestinians". "Religious scholars and facilities are protected by all international laws and traditions, so targeting them is a war crime,” the spokesperson told Middle East Eye.
“Our message to the world is that we want you to stand with us, protest to provide protection for innocent civilians, and stop the genocide in Gaza,” they added. "We call on especially the Islamic scholars and ministries in the Arab world to seriously act and stop the ongoing atrocities against our people, particularly against our sheikhs and scholars," they said.
“We are leaving this responsibility to them, and tomorrow in the hereafter, we will question them before God about what they have done for their Muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza.” Prominent scholars and sheikhs in Gaza, such as Taiseer Ibrahim, Najeeba Al-Da'alees, Awni Own, Wael Al-Zird, Basem Al-Safadi, and many others, have been among those targeted during the ferocious military campaign.
Professor Taiseer Ibrahim, the dean of sharia and the Law Faculty at the Islamic University of Gaza and a member of Palestine's Scholars’ Community, spent his entire life learning about Islam. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in Islamic doctrine and fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) from the Islamic University of Gaza and then travelled to the Islamic University in Malaysia to pursue his PhD in Islamic fiqh.
In addition to his sermons, he used his knowledge to advise his community on matters of divorce, disputes, and inheritance. Ibrahim was killed in the first days of the war after an Israeli air strike bombed his home in Al-Nusairat Refugee Camp.
Owni Own, a famed Quran teacher, a public orator, and an imam, was killed alongside members of his family in an Israeli air strike on his house in Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp in March on the 21st day of the holy month of Ramadan. The 65-year-old was also an English teacher at the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency for the Palestinians (UNWRA). He served as a Quran teacher at Al-Zaytoona College in Gaza. In addition, he had a currency exchange office in Al-Nusairat Refugee Camp.
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