Q.Q., a student at Birzeit University, recounted a military raid on the university
On Tuesday, 6 January 2026, I started my classes at the university at 9:00 A.M. and finished at 10:50 A.M. Then I met up with a friend, and we went to get something to eat. We sat down on the ground near the registration and admissions building, in an area called “Kamal Nasser,” and started eating. Suddenly, I saw a military vehicle approaching from the south, coming from the direction of the Business School.
[...] the vehicle stopped, a soldier got out, and immediately aimed his rifle at us. Everyone started scattering around the area. I still didn’t understand what was happening until someone came over and started yelling at us to get away from there. I got up immediately and started running away because I was afraid the soldier would shoot me.
The vehicle continued until it reached Kamal Nasser Square and stopped there. At first, I thought it would just circle the square and continue on its way. I didn’t really understand what was happening. But then the vehicle stopped, a soldier got out, and immediately aimed his rifle at us. Everyone started scattering around the area. I still didn’t understand what was happening until someone came over and started yelling at us to get away from there.
I got up immediately and started running away because I was afraid the soldier would shoot me. I ran down the stairs and reached the plaza in front of the Faculty of Sciences, next to the “Ritaj” building. There were lots of other students coming down the stairs at the same time, and as we were going down the stairs, I heard stun grenades and tear gas canisters being fired inside the campus. When we reached the bottom, we stopped at the foot of the stairs, but when we saw that the smoke was reaching where we were standing, we went inside the“Ritaj” building. Inside, we saw a group of students who were taking an exam at the time, and a few women were crying out of fear. Many students fled, leaving their stuff behind.
While we were inside the building, we began to see smoke from the tear gas canisters in front of the Faculty of Sciences building. The smoke also seeped into the building where we were, and some of the students inhaled tear gas and were suffering.
The professor asked us to remain quiet and for no student to leave until he told us it was safe to go. While we were inside the building, we began to see smoke from the tear gas canisters in front of the Faculty of Sciences building. The smoke also seeped into the building where we were, and some of the students inhaled tear gas and were suffering. At that point, word spread among the students that occupation soldiers were near the Faculty of Sciences building and that clashes were taking place there between some students and the soldiers. Right then, I began to hear live gunfire inside the university and screams – probably from one of the students who’d been wounded.
We remained trapped inside the building for over half-an-hour and didn’t dare go out because the occupation soldiers were spread out across the campus. Throughout that entire time, some women couldn’t stop crying. Finally, the professor told us that the soldiers had withdrawn from the campus and that we could leave.
That night, I had trouble falling asleep. It never occurred to me that the occupation forces would raid the university campus in broad daylight, while so many students were there.
I was shocked by everything that had happened, but the scariest moment was at the beginning, when the soldier aimed his rifle at me. That night, I had trouble falling asleep. It never occurred to me that the occupation forces would raid the university campus in broad daylight, while so many students were there.
I don’t know what prompted the raid. Though a solidarity rally for the prisoners organized by the student union was held that day – and they had also called for a class boycott to allow students to participate – I don’t think the raid was related to that. Solidarity rallies take place almost every week, and the occupation forces have never raided the university because of them. Previous raids took place at night and involved entering buildings and confiscating equipment belonging to the student factions within the association. But in this raid, no one was arrested, and none of the student union’s equipment was confiscated. It seems that the sole purpose was to demonstrate a presence, or maybe to gauge students’ reactions.
- Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Rumaneh on 12 January 2026