UCLA to resume in-person classes after campus clashes over Israel-Hamas war

In-person classes will resume today at the University of California, Los Angeles, college officials say, after they were moved online following clashes on campus between pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protesters and pro-Israel protesters, as well as police.

Students have rallied or set up tents at dozens of universities in recent weeks to protest Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas, which was started by the terror group’s October 7 onslaught, prompting crackdowns, mass arrests, and a White House directive to restore order.

UCLA said Friday it had moved classes online after a large police contingent forcibly cleared a sprawling encampment.

In the predawn hours of Thursday, helmeted police swarmed the tent city, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to forcibly resist their advance.

Los Angeles police said on social media that 210 people were arrested at UCLA.

Clashes have also broken out between the protesters and pro-Israel counter-demonstrators.

“The campus will return to regular operations [on Monday]… and plans to remain this way through the rest of the week,” reads a statement posted on the university’s website.

“A law enforcement presence continues to be stationed around campus to help promote safety,” the post adds.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block says “urgent changes” were needed in the campus’s security operations, adding that a new office would lead the effort.

“It is clear that UCLA needs a unit and leader whose sole responsibility is campus safety to guide us through tense times,” he says in a statement.

Rick Braziel, the former head of the Sacramento Police Department, was named to lead the office.