Jami'at al-Azhar (Gaza)

Al-Azhar University – Gaza (AUG; Arabic: جامعة الأزهر بغزة) is a Palestinian, public, non-profit, and independent higher education institution. During the first intifada, Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat issued a decree in September 1991 to establish a Palestinian national university. AUG opened on 18 October 1991 in a two-story building with 725 students enrolled in two faculties; the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Sharia and Law (now the Faculty of Law). Prior to being demolished by Israeli forces during the Gaza war, the school had more than 14,000 enrolled students across 12 colleges and 80 disciplines; the school also offered 36 masters degree programs and five doctoral programs.