WASHINGTON, April 28. /TASS/. Pro-Palestinian protests at George Washington University in the US capital are peaceful, there are no arrests, a spokesman for the city police department told TASS.
According to him, the Metropolitan Police Department, supported by the District of Columbia, and the George Washington University Police, have been monitoring the "response to first amendment [of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech] demonstrations" since Thursday. "At this time, no arrests have been made" a police spokesman said, stressing that law enforcement officers "will continue to monitor" the demonstrations both on and off campus.
"This activity has remained peaceful," the police department pointed out. At the same time, when asked to comment on the data that the police refused the management of George Washington University to detain the protesters, the spokesman said that the police do not comment on "operational tactics and procedures."
Earlier, the Washington Post reported, citing sources, that the US capital’s police refused a request from George Washington University administrators to disperse a tent camp organized on campus by pro-Palestinian students. They said that Washington D.C. authorities and law enforcement officials feared making a negative public impression if they dispersed ‘a small number of peaceful protesters.’ The New York Times reported on Saturday that student rallies in support of Palestine have led to the arrests of more than 700 people in the United States.
Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 240 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.