Pro-Palestinian students at Harvard say they reached agreement with university administration

By Zehra Nur Duz

Supporters of Palestine who had set up a camp on the campus of Harvard University in the US state of Massachusetts to protest Israel's ongoing attacks on Gaza announced that they had reached an agreement with the school administration regarding their demands.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine announced on X on Tuesday that students had reached an agreement with the school administration and opted to dismantle the Gaza solidarity camp they had established on the campus.

“The Harvard encampment has concluded,” said the group, adding: “As a precondition for decamping, the administration will retract suspensions.”

“Administration has also offered us meetings regarding disclosure and divestment with members of the Harvard Management Company and ‘conversations’ regarding the establishment of a Center for Palestine Studies at Harvard,” the group added.

Students at Harvard University had been holding rallies for the past three weeks, demanding that the university terminate its relations with Israel.

At least 20 students, who had been involved in the protests, were removed from the school by the decision of the Harvard administration, and more than 60 students were referred for disciplinary action.

Many university administrations in the US are intensifying their efforts to end pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses as graduation ceremonies approach.

Demonstrations began on April 17 at Columbia University to protest Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The protests have served as a flashpoint for a wider movement to protest Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

At least 35,180 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed amid Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip, while over 79,000 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

A cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel that precipitated the current war killed about 1,200 people.

More than seven months into the conflict, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

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