A pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus of George Washington University in the US capital was cleared by police early Wednesday.
Pamela Smith, the chief of police in Washington, said officers arrested 33 people who ignored six "dispersal announcements," but that most of the protesters had followed orders to leave the site.
"They begin very peacefully. But over the past few days we begin to see an escalation in the volatility of the protest," Smith said at a press conference.
The protest at George Washington University began on April 25. Recently there had been more confrontations between participants and law enforcement officers, among other safety concerns, Smith said.
The Washington Post reported that demonstrators had protested outside the university president's house on Tuesday evening.
Protests against Israel's military actions in Gaza have roiled dozens of US campuses, leading to police action at Columbia University, City College of New York, UCLA, the University of Texas at Austin and several other well-known academic institutions.
The protests have centred around demands for universities and companies to cut financial ties with Israel. The protests have taken dark turns at times, including individuals making anti-Semitic and other inflammatory remarks, and participants vandalizing the campus.
