Sciences Po uni says it is closing its main Paris site over Gaza protesters
France's prestigious Sciences Po university said it would close its main Paris site on Friday due to a fresh occupation of buildings by dozens of protesting pro-Palestinian students.
In a message sent to staff on Thursday evening, its management said the buildings in central Paris "will remain closed tomorrow, Friday May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home".
A committee of pro-Palestinian students earlier Thursday announced a "peaceful sit-in" at Sciences Po and said six students were starting a hunger strike "in solidarity with Palestinian victims" in war-torn Gaza.
Sciences Po, widely regarded as France's leading political science school and boasting President Emmanuel Macron among its alumni, has become the backdrop for a series of protests by students. These demonstrations mirror the tense atmosphere seen at several prominent universities in the United States.
Some students at Sciences Po have expressed their anger and frustration over the Israel-Hamas conflict and the resulting humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, a region under siege. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe after Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community on the continent.
In response to the protests, Valerie Pecresse, the right-wing leader of the Paris regional authority, temporarily suspended funding to Sciences Po earlier this week. Pecresse condemned what she described as "a minority of radicalized individuals promoting anti-Semitic hatred."
The war started with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
A member of the student committee who identified himself only as Hicham said the hunger strikes would continue until the university's board voted on holding an investigation into its partnerships with Israeli universities.
Sciences Po's acting administrator Jean Basseres said he had refused that call during a debate with students, held at the university in a bid to calm days of protests.
Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau earlier on Thursday called on university heads to "keep order", including by calling in the police if needed.
