The US-Israeli war on science is an assault on our future

The International Union of Scientists condemns the American-Israeli killings of scientists and bombing of universities.

On 12 March 2026, the Israeli military killed Dr. Hussein Bazzi, chemistry professor and Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, and Dr. Mortada Srour, Professor of Chemistry and Physics, two scientists at the Lebanese University’s Rafik Hariri Campus in Hadath. This killing of scientists occurred in the context of Israeli bombings and invasion that have displaced around 1 million Lebanese and killed over 1100, a crisis that has been compared to the Nakba of 1948 and the ongoing Gaza Genocide. Israel has been destroying housing, including the apartments of surgery professor Haytham Kaafarani and chemistry professor Bilal Kaafarani.

On 23 March, US-Israeli forces killed Dr. Saeed Shamghadri, a distinguished professor of engineering at the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), along with his two children and others in his building. Since then, the US and Israel have bombed at least 20 of  Iran’s universities, including the IUST in Tehran and the Isfahan University of Technology. This destruction is part of a larger pattern of US-Israeli scholasticide in Iran, including the massacre of more than 170 people, mostly schoolchildren, at an elementary school in Minab, and the targeting of more than 600 schools across Iran. The US military also tested a new weapon on a school in Lamerd, killing 21, mostly children. 

Israel and the US have likewise attacked healthcare. Israel has bombed more than 60 healthcare facilities in Lebanon, while the US-Israel coalition has attacked at least 50 hospitals in Iran. 

We recognize this violence as a continuation of the scholasticide perpetrated in Gaza, where US-backed Israel destroyed all of Gaza's universities as part of their genocide. Scientists, universities, and hospitals represent the future that humanity aims to build. By killing scientists, the US and Israel aim to destroy the futures of the people of Lebanon and Iran. Since the start of the Gaza Genocide in 2023, Israel and its Western backers have dismantled international law and the rules of war established in the era since 1945. These latest attacks confirm that the US and Israel have a vision of lawless destruction and slaughter.

The International Union of Scientists therefore condemns in the strongest possible terms the killing of scientists and the destruction of educational infrastructure by US and Israeli forces. We call upon the international scientific community to document these crimes against scientists and students, extend material support to displaced scholars, and demand accountability for the aggressors.