Counter-protesters attack UCLA pro-Palestinian camp

Violence erupted at the University of California, Los Angeles after pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators attacked a pro-Palestinian campus encampment.

Bubbling tensions on the campus boiled over following the alleged breach of a "buffer zone" between the rival groups.

Fireworks and tear gas flew through the night sky as masked counter-protesters attempted to tear down barricades, and struck campers with sticks and bats.

Law enforcement called to the scene was guarding the space as morning broke.

The overnight clash at one of America's top public colleges took place only hours after police in New York had raided and cleared a Columbia University building taken over by students.

Protests at Columbia against the war in Gaza have inspired similar actions at universities - small and large, public and private - in more than two dozen states, with protesters demanding that institutions cut financial ties with Israel and companies profiting from the war.

Mary Osako, a UCLA vice-chancellor, said police and other first responders were immediately called to the scene of its encampment over "horrific acts of violence" early on Wednesday morning.

"We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," she said.

Classes were cancelled on Wednesday.

The university declared the tent camp on Dickson Plaza an illegal gathering on Tuesday but declined to involve law enforcement in disrupting what it called a "largely peaceful" demonstration.

But the security presence in the area expanded over the past 48 hours as tensions flared between the encampment and pro-Israeli individuals, who were separated by a narrow buffer zone of barricades.

Footage online appears to show a large group of counter-protesters, donning black outfits and white masks, arriving on campus just before midnight on Tuesday and attempting to dismantle the barriers.

Campers, some wearing goggles and helmets and others carrying placards and umbrellas, rallied to defend their makeshift space, with clashes erupting in the shadow of famed Royce Hall for at least two hours.

Officers who arrived on site in riot gear did not appear to immediately break up the two sets of protesters, but they slowly cleared the area as dawn broke.

"Tonight they escalated to a whole new level, they started inciting violence," one pro-Palestinian student activist told the BBC.

She said her group had faced "relentless" aggression over several days.

"Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help," UC Divest at LA, a group involved in the encampment, said in a statement.

Several people who spoke to US media also said police did not step in to protect students as the attack was taking place.

Kaia Shah, a UCLA researcher and pro-Palestinian student, told Reuters one friend "has a massive bump on the back of his head, he just got whacked when he was up here."

"I just didn't think they would ever get to this, escalate to this level, where our protest is met by counter-protesters who are violently hurting us, inflicting pain on us, when we are not doing anything to them."

Dylan Winward, a reporter for the Daily Bruin student newspaper, said the counter-demonstrators threw objects including "fireworks, a scooter, water bottles and tear gas".

He said a university-appointed security team had withdrawn ahead of the clash as it believed it could no longer "safely hold" the buffer zone.

The Bruin also revealed on social media that four of its reporters had been assaulted and sprayed with an irritant early on Wednesday morning by assailants who recorded the incident on their cell phones.

There was a large police presence on campus as night turned to day, and as a handful of protesters fortified their space and set their wooden boards and signs back up.

It remains unclear how many of the people involved in the night-time chaos, particularly on the pro-Israeli side, are active students at the university.

Pressure has been mounting on college leaders to rein in pro-Palestinian protests as they spread across the country and outside agitators appear to expand their involvement.

Republican politicians in particular have highlighted instances of alleged antisemitism by those participating in the protests and accused administrators of failing to protect their Jewish students, many who say they do not feel safe on campuses.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office said it is "closely monitoring the situation at UCLA", while Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass slammed the clashes as "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable".