Makeshift “University City” Offers Lifeline to Gaza Students Amid War Devastation

Makeshift “University City” Offers Lifeline to Gaza Students Amid War Devastation
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A temporary academic initiative in southern Gaza Strip is helping students resume in-person education after much of the enclave’s university system was destroyed during the ongoing conflict.

Established by Scholars Without Borders in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, the site—dubbed “University City”—consists of simple structures built from local materials and powered by solar energy. It includes six lecture halls capable of hosting up to 600 students daily, operating on a rotating schedule shared by multiple institutions.

Major universities, including the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University, have begun using the facility, prioritizing courses that require in-person instruction, such as medical and practical training.

The initiative comes as Gaza’s higher education sector has been largely dismantled, with campuses destroyed, repurposed as shelters, or rendered inoperable. Thousands of students have been forced into unreliable online learning due to displacement, lack of electricity, and limited internet access.

Despite logistical challenges, including long travel distances and scarce transport, students say the facility restores a sense of normal academic life.

Aid groups say the project highlights both resilience and the urgent need for broader reconstruction, as hundreds of thousands of students remain without access to formal education.