Universities tighten security amid threats over Israel-Hamas war

USFPD said that there will be an increased police presence on the college campus for the foreseeable future

Universities in Florida are tightening security measures as tensions continue to mount over the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas.

The University of South Florida Police sent out an emergency alert to students and staff on Wednesday over a suspected bomb threat on social media related to the USF Hillel building, where the Jewish student organisation resides.

Following an evacuation and search of the Tampa campus building, authorities found nothing of concern.

An update from the university later clarified that there was never any legitimate threat but that the social media post came from a spat between two people.

Despite the false alarm, USFPD said that there will be an increased police presence on the college campus for the foreseeable future.

“As a result of the events in the Middle East, this week there has been, and there will continue to be an increased visible presence of USF police officers on campus,” the department said in an email, seen by the Tampa Bay Times.

Students, faculty and staff are urged to remain vigilant and contact the campus police if they see anything concerning.

The incident comes at a time of heightened concerns among Jewish communities – as well as heightened tensions between some student groups across the US.

Days earlier at the University of Florida in Gainesville, chaos broke out at a vigil dedicated to the Israeli victims of the weekend’s attacks.

Israel vigil at the University of Florida before a stampede on Monday (Ashava)

The incident unfolded after a woman fainted in the crowd, causing a stampede of desperate attendees who fled the area in a panic.

Multiple people suffered injuries in the crush.

Campus police at the college said that they are also increasing security there following the incident.

UF has the highest number of Jewish students out of all public universities in the US, according to the college’s public broadcasting station WUFT.

The station said that it also has a high number of students who have been protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Meanwhile, 33 student groups at Harvard University are coming under fire for signing a joint letter saying that Israel’s “apartheid regime” was the catalyst for the war.

“Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum,” the letter, led by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, said.

“For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.”

“The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” the group added, describing Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza as “colonial retaliation.”

The letter sparked an instant backlash from Harvard alumni and lawmakers, while university officials distanced themselves from the comments.

An explosion on a residential tower caused by Israeli raids in the northern Gaza strip (Getty Images)

Now, some of America’s top CEOs and business leaders including hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman are calling for the names of the signatories to be made public so that they can be blacklisted from future employment opportunities on Wall Street.

The Israeli military has said that more than 1,200 people have been killed since Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border into Israel in a surprise attack on Saturday.

At least 25 Americans are among the dead, while an unknown number of people are believed to have been kidnapped and are being held hostage back in Gaza.

At least 1,400 Palestinians, including 447 children, have also been killed during retaliatory strikes carried out on Gaza by Israeli forces, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.