More than 30 California State University (CSU) students are on a hunger strike to protest against Israel’s blockade of food

In a video released on Sunday, the students said that the hunger strike was growing across campuses: “It’s day seven of the CSU hunger strike for Gaza. We remain steadfast in our struggle for a free Palestine. This has grown to other campuses across California and the nation. We call on every student to use their voice, their body, their collective power to make this genocide inescapable for our administrations.”

The students are also calling for CSU to divest from companies that provide weapons and surveillance technology to Israel, and said they had committed to the hunger strike after calls from students at Palestinian universities.

The students, who are from CSU Long Beach, Sacramento State, San Francisco State and San Jose State, began the hunger strike on 5 May. They are urging CSU to follow in the footsteps of San Francisco State University, which divested last year from weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Leonardo, data analysis company Palantir, and construction company Caterpillar, following a student Gaza solidarity encampment last spring.

They said that students at UCLA, Stanford, and Yale Universities were also participating in the hunger strike.