LIVE MIDDLE EAST. At least 70 arrests in pro-Palestinian protests at American universities | Instagram VTM NEWS

It growing protest at American universities against Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip expanded to more educational institutions on Wednesday. Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson wants the National Guard to intervene, he said on Wednesday during a visit to Columbia University in New York.

Demonstrations took place on campuses in Ohio and California, among others. On the USC campus in Los Angeles became a tent camp set up by demonstrators from pro-Palestinian groups and the Jewish Jewish Voice for Peace. After the tents were broken up by security, demonstrators continued to walk around the campus with them. The demonstration attracted students and people from outside the university, after which the USC board decided to close the campus gates. In the evening (local time) it was still certain fifty students arrested on campus.

In the Texas city of Austin a tense confrontation took place between students and riot police. More than twenty people were arrested, including a journalist. Demonstrations took place at dozens of other large and smaller educational institutions, reports ‘The Washington Post’ newspaper. Students from Harvard University in Boston set up a tent camp, following the example of students at Columbia in New York and UC Berkeley near San Francisco.

The demonstrators condemn the rising death toll in the Gaza Strip. In addition, students demand from their universities that they sever financial ties with Israel and openly support the call for a ceasefire scissors.

According to critics, including Republican Mike Johnson, pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic slogans are used at some demonstrationswhich is experienced as threatening by some Jewish students and university employees.

The wave of protests began at Columbia University, where more than a hundred demonstrators were arrested last week and a tent camp was cleared after university authorities called in police. On Wednesday, demonstrators were given 48 hours to break up a tent camp. Johnson wants principal Nemat Shafik to resign.

The Israeli forces have made all necessary preparations for an raid on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. This is what a senior defense official told the Reuters news agency. According to the source, the raid can begin as soon as the Israeli government gives permission.

Israel sees Rafah as the last stronghold of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. A major military invasion is very sensitive internationally, because there are many Palestinian refugees in the city. The US, Israel’s main ally, has expressed clear concerns about the humanitarian consequences of such a move.

An Israeli government spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that a ground operation is planned, but did not provide details on when it would take place. The Reuters source said that 40,000 tents have already been purchased to accommodate Palestinians from Rafah. Each tent can accommodate ten to twelve people.

Images circulating online allegedly show tents being set up in Khan Younis, a town a few kilometers from Rafah. Satellite images also show new tent camps in places that were empty a few weeks ago. Rafah is home to more than a million refugees from other parts of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli government source said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is likely to meet in the next two weeks to decide on the evacuation of Palestinian civilians. That evacuation can then take about a month.