Mahmoud Al Najjar, the young man who was supposed to study at Tor Vergata but was arrested by the IDF on charges of being part of Hamas, had the qualifications to enter the master's program.
"Seven Palestinian students have arrived at our university so far. We're not handling the paperwork related to them, only the part regarding their admission. The rest is not our responsibility," Nathan Levialdi Ghiron, rector of Tor Vergata, told ANSA. " In the case of the arrested student, we handled the qualifications required for the master's program he had enrolled in. We assess whether the students have the necessary qualifications; in his case, he did. We know nothing about the rest. We've written to the Foreign Ministry and are awaiting communication; we have no updated information."
Al-Najjar had managed to get on the list of Palestinian students admitted to university programs in Italy (including universities in Cagliari and Sassari). On Tuesday, he was about to leave Gaza with a group of 17 other young people headed to Rome. But at the Kerem Shalom crossing, he was arrested by the IDF on charges of being an operative of Hamas's Northern Brigade and of participating in the October 7, 2023, massacre .
According to journalist Muthanna al-Najjar, who spoke to the Gaza-based media outlet Drop Site, Mahmoud, originally from Jabaliya and the sole survivor of his family killed in an Israeli attack, was arrested on Tuesday after finally being granted permission to leave the Strip and travel to Tor Vergata University in Rome, following months of efforts to obtain an exit permit. Drop Site also reports that "Mahmoud has published three academic research articles" and that after his arrest "he was taken to an unknown location and his relatives have received no information."
(Unioneonline/D)