LOS ANGELES - Violent clashes erupted on Wednesday on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of counter-demonstrators, according to live video coverage provided by a US broadcaster.

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The UCLA student newspaper Daily Bruin said supporters of Israel had tried to tear down a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus

Police were responding to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block's request for support, Zach Seidl, Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Communications, said on X.

The Oct 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, have unleashed the biggest outpouring of US student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020.

READ MORE: Pro-Palestinian protests spread in US universities, urging cessation of military aid to Israel

Aerial footage from broadcaster KABC, an affiliate of ABC, showed people wielding sticks or poles to attack wooden boards being held up as a makeshift barricade to protect pro-Palestinian protesters, some holding placards or umbrellas.

Late on Tuesday, New York City police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators holed-up in an academic building on Columbia University campus in New York and removed a protest encampment that the Ivy League school had sought to dismantle for nearly two weeks.