Pro-Palestinian activists occupying Berlin university plan to stay

Berlin: Pro-Palestinian activists who have been occupying rooms at Berlin's Humboldt University since Wednesday plan to stay until their demands are met, a representative told news agency DPA.

The students had been given a deadline by the university to leave by 6 pm (1600 GMT) on Thursday, university president Julia von Blumenthal said.

However, they plan to negotiate an extension of the occupation with the university management during talks planned for the afternoon, the spokeswoman told DPA on Thursday.

Activists occupied several rooms at the Institute of Social Sciences at Humboldt University on Wednesday in support of Palestinians and in protest against Israel's attacks in Gaza.

In a statement, the group called Student Coalition Berlin accused Israel of "genocide" and "ongoing mass murder." The protest was about "unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people."

They have demanded that Berlin's universities campaign for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire from Israel and exert pressure on the German government. The latter should impose an arms embargo on Israel and end all military, financial and diplomatic aid to Israel, they wrote.

There have been repeated protests at German universities against Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and in solidarity with the Palestinians. An occupation at the Free University of Berlin a few weeks ago was broken up by police.