Stanford students arrested during pro-Palestinian protests that occupied the president’s office

(Reuters) – More than a dozen people were arrested at Stanford University in California on Wednesday after pro-Palestinian students barricaded themselves in the university president’s building, the latest in clashes between U.S. students and authorities over the Israel-Gaza conflict.

According to the Stanford Daily student newspaper, about 10 students entered the building at around 5:30 a.m. on the last day of classes for the spring quarter, while about 50 students surrounded the building, arm in arm, chanting “Palestine will be free.”

In a post on Instagram, the group Liberate Stanford said an “autonomous group of students” had occupied the office of university president Richard Saller. The students called on the university, among other things, to divest from companies linked to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip.

According to Stanford Daily, police entered the building with a crowbar about two hours after the demonstration began.

A statement from the school said 13 people who had illegally entered the building had been arrested.

“There is significant damage to the interior and exterior of the building and access to the building will be closed for the remainder of the day,” the university said.

Among the students arrested was a reporter from the Stanford Daily, the newspaper reported.

Hundreds of students have been arrested in recent months after staging demonstrations, setting up camps and, in some cases, occupying buildings to protest Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

The Israeli campaign began after Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli sources.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Rod Nickel)