Lawyers argue that Israel may have violated US arms export control laws, as well as the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit disproportionate attacks on civilians, the report said on Monday, citing lawyers’ letter. In addition, they urged the US Department of Justice to investigate potential war crimes that US citizens could have committed while serving in the Israeli army, the report added.

“The law is clear and aligned with the majority of Americans who believe the US should cease arms shipments to Israel until it stops its military operation in Gaza,” the newspaper reported, quoting the letter.

In total, the letter was signed by lawyers from various departments, including the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as from the European Commission and the private sector.

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,500 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 77,600 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

“We have begun suspending students as part of this next phase of our efforts to ensure safety on our campus,” Ben Chang, vice president of communications for Columbia University said in a press conference early Monday evening.

“Once disciplinary action is initiated, adjudication is handled by several different units within the University based on the nature of the offense.”

Earlier in the day, Columbia — where the first major encampment took place — told students they must disperse from the camp by 2 p.m. and sign a document pledging to obey university rules on their way out, or they would be suspended from the school.

“Those who did not oblige began to be suspended by around 5:30 p.m. Monday, and were deemed ineligible to complete the semester to graduate, Chang said. The students will also be “restricted” from all academic, residential and recreational spaces, he added.

Chang did not specify the exact number of students who have been suspended so far.

The protests have continued at Columbia and college campuses across the country for more than a week, sparking the arrests of hundreds of students and faculty members. The demonstrators are calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and a halt in U.S. military aid to Israel.

Chang stated Columbia officials tried to urge the student protestors to remove the encampment to not “deprive” their student colleagues of a graduation.

University of Southern California cancelled its main commencement ceremony amid criticism after it nixed a pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s speech.

School administrators are faced with finding the balance between upholding the right to free speech while also protecting the safety of Jewish students. Many of the protests have been reported to be peaceful, though concerns have been raised over the proliferation of antisemitic rhetoric.

A coalition of over 20 Democratic House members sent a letter to Columbia University on Monday urging the administrators to end the encampment.

“We, the undersigned, write to express our disappointment that, despite promises to do so, Columbia University has not yet disbanded the unauthorized and impermissible encampment of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activists on campus,” the lawmakers wrote.

“As a result of this disruption on campus, supported by some faculty members, many students have been prevented from safely attending class, the main library, and from leaving their dorm rooms in an apparent violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” they added.

Other Democrats, however, have defended the demonstrations and accused school administers of violating protestors’ rights.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris survey shared with The Hill showed 80 percent of registered voters said they support Israel more in the war, while 20 percent said they support Hamas more. That is about in line with the poll’s findings from last month, when 79 percent indicated they support Israel more.

In this month’s poll, older age groups were much more likely to be supportive of Israel than younger respondents, though a clear majority of each age group supported Israel more than Hamas. More than 90 percent of those 65 years old and older and of those 55 to 64 said they support Israel more, while 85 percent of those 45 to 54 and three-quarters of those 35 to 44 said the same.

Support for Israel was the lowest among the youngest age groups. Pollsters found 64 percent of those 25 to 34 and 57 percent of those 18 to 24 said they support Israel more, while the rest of those age groups said they support Hamas more.

The poll’s results come as numerous pro-Palestinian protests have popped up on college campuses throughout the country. Students have set up encampments to protest for days at schools including Columbia and New York University.

Universities have responded to the protests with a range of tactics including negotiations, suspensions and arrests to try to end the encampments taking place on school property. Protesters have called for their universities to end their business relationships with companies that they say are contributing to Israel’s war, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.

Mark Penn, the co-director of the poll, said support for Israel “has not budged” despite the “campus unrest”. He added the student protests appear out of step with broader public attitudes on Israel and noted that the poll showed Americans largely want a cease-fire in the war but only after Hamas is removed from power and the hostages they seized during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel are returned.

The poll found 61 percent of respondents support a cease-fire only after those conditions are met, while 39 percent support an unconditional cease-fire. A stark divide exists based on age group in responses to this question.

An overwhelming majority of those 55 to 64 and those 65 and older support a cease-fire only after Hamas is gone and the hostages are returned. More narrow majorities of those 35 to 44 and those 45 to 54 also support that, while 59 percent of 25-to-34-year-olds and 67 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds support an unconditional ceasefire.

At the same time, the poll also found support for Israel to continue its military operation into the city of Rafah, where many Palestinian civilians have fled to after Israel’s offensive began. Israeli leaders have said that Hamas fighters are in the city.

More than 70 percent of respondents said Israel should move forward with the operation, including 57 percent of those 18 to 24 and increasing percentages with each older age group.

Pollsters noted how the framing of a question matters, as 70 percent said they support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza, but 68 percent said they would oppose one if that meant Hamas could continue to hold hostages and run Gaza.