(Bloomberg) -- Shortly after 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening, New York City police officers entered a Columbia University building that pro-Palestinian demonstrators had barricaded themselves inside. Dozens of people were arrested and loaded into buses. 

Protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war have spread to university campuses across the US, with arrests last week at universities in Austin, Texas and California. Demonstrators are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza — where more than 30,000 people have been killed since October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry — and for schools to sever financial ties with Israel and halt disciplinary action against students. Campuses have long struggled with how to balance the right to free speech with the need for students to feel safe, and critics say the escalating protests have become disruptive and in some cases bigoted. 

Police made arrests after entering the building, Hamilton Hall, through an upstairs window.

As arrests were made, some people were led away bound by zip ties.

Demonstrations continued in the streets around the university as police looked on.

As NYPD buses departed, protesters chanted “shame on you.”

The NYPD said the building had been cleared of protesters after about two hours. The university has asked police to remain on campus through May 17. 

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--With assistance from Kyoji Iwai.

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