French police storm two university campuses and disperse student sit-ins in support of Palestine

On Friday, French police dispersed dozens of protesting students in the building of the Paris Institute for Political Studies. They also stormed the campus of Sciences Po University and expelled students who had staged a sit-in in protest against the Israeli war on Gaza.

The Paris police intervened to disperse the demonstrators at the institute after they gathered to protest against the war on Gaza.

The students raised the Palestinian flag and chanted slogans in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been facing an Israeli war that has been going on for more than half a year.

Dozens of police officers were seen surrounding the demonstrators' site, and standing at the main gates of the institute, which the university administration closed and resorted to "remote" study.

Sciences Po University

In a related context, French police stormed the prestigious Sciences Po University in central Paris today, Friday, and expelled students who had staged a sit-in in protest against the Israeli war on Gaza.

The university closed its doors on Friday, with a heavy police presence around the main building.

One of the students mentioned that he was one of about 70 students who staged a sit-in at the university yesterday, Thursday, and spent the night there.

A university spokesman said before the police intervened that Sciences Po was seeking to reach a “negotiated solution to end the crisis” with its students, and that some of its branches in Reims, Le Havre and Poitiers were also affected by protests.

A student who spoke on behalf of the protesters said that the President of Sciences Po University yesterday, Thursday, rejected the protesters’ demands to review the university’s relations with Israeli universities, which prompted the protesters to continue their movement, and at least one person began a hunger strike.

This comes as an extension of student protests at dozens of American and European universities, in protest against the Israeli war on Gaza, many of which were subjected to police raids.

The Israeli war on Gaza since October 7 left tens of thousands martyred and wounded, most of them children and women, and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.

Israel continues its war despite the issuance of a Security Council resolution to stop the fighting immediately, and despite the request of the International Court of Justice to take immediate measures to prevent “genocide” and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.