Said Al Zebda

Said A. Alzebda (died 2023) was a Palestinian electrical engineer and academic. He was president of the University College of Applied Sciences until his death in Israeli airstrikes on 31 December 2023.

Said Anwar Al Zebda سعيد الزبدة
Born	1980 (1980) Zeitoun neighborhood, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Died	December 31, 2023(2023-12-31) (aged 43) Zeitoun neighborhood, Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Cause of death	Killed by the Israeli Air Force
Other names	Saeed Al-Zebda
Alma mater	University of Nottingham
Occupation	Electrical engineer, academic and president at University College of Applied Sciences

Early life and education

Born in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine, Said Anwar Al Zebda studied telecommunications engineering, then obtained his master's and doctorate degrees in electronic communications and computer engineering from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.^[1]

Career

After graduating from the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza, Said Al-Zebda was appointed as head of the developmental programs, then head of the Yukas Technology Incubator,^[2] and then assistant to the college president for developmental affairs, before the college's board of trustees announced his appointment as the new president of the University College of Applied Sciences, succeeding Rifat Naim Rustam.^[3]

Death

On December 31, 2023, Israeli forces launched an aerial attack on the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, bombing a number of buildings and homes, including the home of Said Al Zebda, who was killed along with his wife and children as a result of the Israeli aerial bombardment.^[4]

Said Al Zebda was not the only Palestinian academic killed by Israeli forces during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip following Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. Sufian Tayeh, president of the Islamic University of Gaza, was killed along with his entire family in the massacre committed by the Israeli army in the Faluja area in the northern Gaza Strip town of Jabaliya.^[5]