A university president was among the victims as the Israeli military resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Reuters and other media reported that Sufyan Tayeh, president of the Islamic University of Gaza, was killed along with his family in an air strike on the neighbourhood of Al-Faluja, north east of Gaza City. Reuters attributed its report to the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education.

Posting on Facebook, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture said that Professor Tayeh held a PhD in theoretical physics and applied mathematics and had received awards including the Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Young Arab Scientists. Earlier this year he had been appointed to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization chair in physics, astronomical physics and space sciences in Palestine, the ministry said.

More than 15,000 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks on Gaza launched in retaliation for Hamas¡¯ cross-border raids on 7 October. The Israeli death toll stands at around 1,400.

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Many universities in Gaza have been seriously damaged. According to data released at the end of October, at that point more than 400 university staff and students had been killed, mainly in Gaza, with some in the West Bank.

Israeli academia has been severely disrupted?too, with large numbers of researchers having been called up to serve in the country¡¯s military.

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Israel resumed its military action in Gaza on 1 December,?after a ceasefire?that allowed for the exchange of some hostages.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com