Police storm pro-Palestinian encampment at University of Geneva

By Nur Asena Erturk

Police on Tuesday stormed the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Geneva and dispersed the protesting students, according to reports.

Police arrived at the campus at around 5.00 a.m. (0300GMT) where the protests started last week, according to the daily Le Temps.

Cleaning work started in the building after police broke up the protest camp.

The students started protesting to show support for Gaza, and to ask the university management to take a clear stance regarding the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and end all relations with Israeli institutions and universities.

- University of Amsterdam closes its gates

As the protests continued in several Dutch universities, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) decided to close for two days.

“The Executive Board of the University of Amsterdam is shocked at the way a peaceful protest has been hijacked by violent elements who misuse their ‘right to demonstrate’ and deny the fundamental rights of others, including the media,” the university said in a statement on Monday.

It announced that the university would close on May 14 and 15 to ensure the safety of everyone present on campus, following the “deliberate vandalism” that was perpetrated by a masked group during the protests on Monday.

Encampments remain in other universities, including Maastricht.

Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 35,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,400 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.