Pro-Palestinian activists begin encampment at University of Pennsylvania

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Pro-Palestinian activists launched a protest Thursday at the University of Pennsylvania against Israel's ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

They marched through the Center City neighborhood of Philadelphia before setting up an encampment at Penn City Hall, according to media reports.

There have been no reports of arrests so far.

Protests against Israel's onslaught against Gaza have spread across the US after more than 100 people were arrested last week at Columbia University in New York when police tried to clear an encampment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson faced boos and loud chants Wednesday from students as he delivered a speech during his visit to the school, where he called on the university’s president, Minouche Shafik, to resign.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed around 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six 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 is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.