Protests in Support of Palestine Draw Thousands on US Campuses

But in the last 24 hours, theyve drawn the most attention at the University of California, Los Angeles, where chaotic scenes played out early Thursday as officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators.The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza, following Hamas deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7.

At least 200 people were arrested at UCLA Thursday, bringing the nationwide total of arrests to more than 2,000 at dozens of college campuses since police cleared an encampment at Columbia University in mid-April, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Demonstrations — and arrests — have occurred in almost every corner of the nation. But in the last 24 hours, they've drawn the most attention at the University of California, Los Angeles, where chaotic scenes played out early Thursday as officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israel's offensive in Gaza, following Hamas' deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)