"We strongly condemn the occupation's assassination of scientists, university professors and researchers, who constitute a prestigious group in Palestinian society and in the Gaza Strip," the press office of the Hamas government, in power in the Palestinian enclave since 2007, said in a statement. "The message is clear. Their [the Israelis'] goal is to completely eliminate scientists and researchers," the text continued. Among the 104 names released is that of the president of the Islamic University of Gaza and a leading researcher in Physics and Applied Mathematics, Sofiane Tayeh. The name of the surgeon and professor of Medicine Adnane Ahmed Atiya al-Bourch is also on the list. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, Adnane al-Bourch, 50, died while in detention, after having been arrested by Israeli soldiers, along with other doctors, at the Al-Awda Hospital, in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip, last December. Questioned at the time about this death in detention, the Israeli army stated that it "was not aware of such an incident". The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which caused the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report. Of the 252 hostages taken by Hamas at the time, 128 remain captive in the Gaza Strip, 38 of whom are reported dead by the Israeli military. The vast offensive launched in response by Israel caused the death of 35,272 people, according to the latest report by the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip. During the Six-Day War, in 1967, Israel took possession of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, from which it unilaterally withdrew in 2005. Also Read: USA takes Hamas hostages to the UN to warn of "psychological" impact (Portuguese version)