Gaza protesters occupy Oxford University library

About a dozen protesters are believed to be inside the Radcliffe Camera

Campaigners protesting the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank have occupied one of Oxford's most iconic buildings.

About a dozen members of the Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) group seized the Radcliffe Camera - which is part of the university's Bodleian Libraries - on Friday morning.

The group said the action had "become necessary" after the university ceased contact with OA4P negotiators and remained "blatantly inactive".

The University of Oxford said it "thoroughly condemns the disruption and distress" caused by the protesters.

It added that students were being advised to avoid the Radcliffe Camera, and to use alternative libraries.

The Bodleian Library said Radcliffe Square had been closed during the protest.

In a statement, OA4P said it "cannot abide business as usual" while the university continues its "deplorable financial and material support" which "enabled ruthless Israeli genocide in Gaza".

An Oxford Action for Palestine an encampment around the Camera ended in July 2024

The group said it had unofficially renamed the Radcliffe Camera to the Khalida Jarrar Library, after the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - a group designated a "terrorist organisation" by Israel, the US and the European Union.

Jarrar was one one of the 90 Palestinian prisoners released earlier this week as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.

"The University has shown a clear lack of urgency and resorted to various stalling tactics, despite repeated calls from our broad, diverse, and multifaceted coalition to end its complicity," OA4P said.

The group are calling for the University to cut all financial ties with Israel.

In a statement, the University of Oxford said it was "currently working to safely remove the protestors and ensure that normal studies and services can resume as soon as possible".

"While the University supports the right to peaceful protest, this action plainly goes beyond the bounds of acceptable protest and is a clear risk to the safety of protestors, students, staff and members of the public," it said.

"It is preventing students from using the resources and space of the library to pursue their education."

"It is also putting at risk on a historic building and its contents."

OA4P said its efforts "must be redoubled" following this weeks ceasefire after 15 months of war.

"To take our eyes off of Gaza now would be an abdication of our responsibility to the struggle for Palestinian liberation," the group added.

OA4P's action at the Radcliffe Camera follows previous encampments last year around the camera and at the Museum of Natural History.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group's cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage.

Almost 47,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.