The intervention of the Public Security Police (PSP), at the request of the university, which had demanded that the students leave by 8:00 pm on Monday", began at 7:00 am today, the same source told the Lusa agency.

"The approximately 30 students demobilized and the outdoor camp was dismantled. Now the building that had been occupied will be inspected and cleaned. At least during the morning there will be no conditions for classes to resume in this building. The others are operating normally," indicated the same source from the rectory of the University of Porto.

Meanwhile, in a message sent to the Lusa agency, the protest organization said that the students left the building after being informed that "if the barricaded people and the camp were not dismantled immediately, they would be forcibly demobilized".

"In view of this threat and the anti-democratic and disproportionate attitude of the FCUP administration, the collective decided to protect the physical and psychological integrity of all, with the aim of ensuring the continuity of student mobilization," they said.

The collective also says that during the early hours of the morning, "in order to take advantage of the smaller number of students and activists present at the site and the absence of the media, a very strong police contingent was activated and went to the building where, since yesterday [Monday], a group of activists were barricaded inside a room".

The administration of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP) informed on Monday night that there would be no classes this morning in the building occupied by students in protest against the maintenance of relations between the academy and Israel.

The occupation of the space took place after the arrival of five PSP agents to the building, called by the director of the faculty after the last meeting with the students failed in an attempt to reach an agreement, on the part of the students, for a split from the academy with the State of Israel, and, on the part of the faculty, for them to leave the gardens where they have been protesting since Thursday.

At 12:00 am today, about a hundred people were gathered in the garden of FCUP, protesting against the maintenance of relations between the academy and the State of Israel.

The protest had its first moment on May 8, when about fifty students demanded in front of the rectory of UP the severance of relations between the academy and the State of Israel.

On Wednesday, the students gathered at the Faculty of Fine Arts and decided to continue the protest at the Faculty of Sciences, where they set up camping tents to shelter themselves during the night, surrounded by Palestinian flags, candles and banners with phrases such as: "Proletarian solidarity for a Free Palestine", "Israel is not a democracy, Israel is a terrorist country" and "The revolution starts here".

The action is part of the international student protest struggle that began in North American universities and has already spread to higher education institutions in several European cities, Canada, Mexico and even Australia, demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the attack by the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

In response, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has already caused over 35,000 deaths, mostly civilians, according to local authorities controlled by Hamas, and left the enclave in a situation of serious humanitarian crisis.

[News updated at 9:28 am]

Read also: Middle East. FCUP cancels classes in the building with students protesting (Portuguese version)