Israel-Hamas war sends shock waves through scientific community

Conflict has left many labs empty or in ruins

Shock waves from the war between Israel and Hamas are rocking the scientific community in the region and around the world.

In Israel, universities are mourning scientists and others killed in the 7 October surprise attack by Hamas militants. Hamas, widely considered a terrorist organization, rules the Gaza Strip. Academic laboratories are emptying as foreign graduate students return home and young academics report for military service. Some science continues, says Asher Cohen, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI), but “we cannot maintain full research facilities.”

In the Gaza Strip, researchers say many of the Palestinian enclave’s few and already beleaguered scientific institutions have been damaged by Israeli air attacks, and scientists are struggling to find safe havens. “The priority isn’t science—the priority is staying alive,” says Marwan Awartani, president of the Palestine Academy for Science and Technology, which is based on the West Bank.

Elsewhere, the war is forcing research funders to remake plans. Yesterday, for example, the European Commission announced it would be giving all applicants an additional week or more to complete upcoming requests to several major grant programs. “We offer our support to those affected by the recent hostilities,” Iliana Ivanova, the European commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth said in a statement.

Israel declared war on Hamas on 8 October, soon after the group’s operatives murdered more than 1300 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians, and kidnapped 200 others. The death toll in Gaza stands at more than 3500, according to Palestinian officials.

After the Israeli military called up more than 300,000 reservists, colleges and universities in Israel postponed the start of the fall semester until at least early November. Some have turned their dormitories into housing for reservists or shelters for Israelis displaced by the war.

At Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, most of its 242 international postdoctoral students have departed, often at the insistence of their home countries, said President Daniel Chamovitz. The university is located just 41 kilometers from the Gaza border and within reach of rockets fired by Hamas and its allies. At least 50 Ben-Gurion students, staff, and faculty were killed in the Hamas attack, university officials say, including theoretical physicist Sergey Gredeskul and mathematician Viktoria Gredeskul, who were married. Others are being held hostage by Hamas.

The large number of dead has forced Chamovitz to develop a mourning protocol for the university. It ensures that at least one member of the administration attends every funeral and every shiva–the 7 days of Jewish mourning.

Several of Ben-Gurion’s research labs are still functioning, but at less than peak capacity, Chamovitz said. Postdocs in data science or who are writing journal articles continue to work, and the university has decided to continue paying scholarships for the next month, in the hope that the situation will stabilize.

At HUJI, biomedical researcher Yuval Dor says five of the 20 members of his laboratory, which focuses on diabetes and disease detection, have left for military service. “Everybody’s distracted. … Everyone knows people who were hurt or killed or kidnapped,” Dor says. “Experiments have pretty much come to a halt.” The lab was also starting a new company, but Dor fears potential investors will now shy away.

Dor says he’s been heartened by the “dozens and dozens” of messages of support he’s received from colleagues abroad. Still, he says, “It is heartbreaking to shift from focusing on disease diagnosis to contemplating methods for identifying the DNA of victims."

At the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, some international students have insisted on staying despite warnings to leave, President Uri Sivan says. Their support “is inspiring,” he says.

In Gaza, the situation is dire, says Awartani, a former education minister for the Palestinian Authority, which presides over the West Bank. Even before the current war, Israel’s blockade of Gaza made it extremely difficult for Palestinian researchers to receive funding or attend conferences overseas, and for foreign researchers to work in Gaza’s universities. Israel often blocked the importation of scientific equipment, citing security concerns.

Now, much of Gaza’s limited scientific infrastructure is in ruins, Awartani says. Two major institutions–the Islamic University of Gaza and Al-Azhar University–have suffered extensive damage from Israeli air strikes. “It is clear that many students and faculty are dead or wounded,” Awartani says.

“The long-term ramifications of this war on Gaza’s higher education system are incalculable,” the Palestine Academy for Science and Technology said in a statement. “The psychological, intellectual, and cultural fabric necessary for a thriving academic community has been torn asunder, and it will take years, if not generations, to mend.”

doi: 10.1126/science.adl4713

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