Israeli security forces on Tuesday dispersed a gathering in support of terror at Birzeit University, a Palestinian university near Ramallah in Samaria, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The student rally “in support of terrorism and incitement to terror” was dispersed by IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police with riot dispersal means, according to the statement.
Later, an additional violent confrontation broke out involving “hundreds of suspects,” with rocks being thrown from rooftops at security forces, “posing an immediate threat to them,” the IDF statement continued.
“The forces responded with riot dispersal means and precise fire toward the main violent individuals,” it said. “The IDF will continue to operate against terrorism and will not tolerate any kind of incitement to terror against Israeli civilians.”
Arab reports claimed that 11 Palestinians were wounded in the incident, including five who were hit by live ammunition, four from tear gas inhalation and two who sustained injuries when they fell.
Last year, Israeli security forces foiled a significant terrorist attack that had been planned by Hamas in Turkey and involved Birzeit students.
The operation, a collaborative effort of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), IDF and a specialized Israel Police unit, led to the arrest of several suspects and the seizure of arms and funds earmarked for the attack.
The terrorist cell, operating under the banner of “Kutla Islamiya,” was in the advanced stages of planning a major attack when it was uncovered.
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border terrorist attack in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people, primarily Jewish civilians, were murdered, Birzeit University on its official X account saluted Palestinian “martyrs.
“Glory for martyrs, recovery for wounded ones, and freedom for the captives,” the university tweeted.
Harvard University earlier this year suspended a partnership between its François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights and the terror-linked Palestinian university.
Andrea Baccarelli, the dean of Harvard’s School of Public Health, told a university publication that he had “relaunched periodic reviews of our centers and programs to ensure the highest quality of scholarship and teaching excellence.”
“While this review is ongoing, we have halted the formal collaboration between the FXB Center and Birzeit University,” Baccarelli added.
