LOS ANGELES — More than 100 University of Southern California students and off-campus supporters erected tents, banners and signs in the center of campus Wednesday, joining a growing national sit-in movement across college campuses as pro-Palestinian activists demand that universities call for a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and divest from ties to weapons manufacturers with links to Israel.

The encampment in Alumni Park — where the university’s main-stage commencement is scheduled to take place next month — went up before sunrise and grew into the late morning as students, wearing kaffiyehs and holding “free Palestine” and “liberated zone” signs, banged drums and chanted.

“Disclose! Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest!” said the crowd, which billed itself in a statement as the “USC Divest from Death Coalition.”

“Carol, Carol, you can’t hide! You’re supporting genocide!” went another chant, a reference to USC President Carol Folt.

Protesters included members of pro-Palestinian groups such as Trojans for Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.

The protesters at the USC encampment joined a growing number of student-led demonstrations at college campuses since last week, when more than 100 arrests at a camp-in at Columbia University spurred solidarity protests at universities from Massachusetts to California.

An encampment at UC Berkeley is in its third day, while the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata is shut down through Wednesday, after students occupied an administration building Monday night. Police have also arrested activists at Yale University, New York University and the University of Minnesota.

Tensions have grown at colleges since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, who killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 240 hostages. Gaza health authorities say Israel’s retaliatory war has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians. The health authorities don’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants but say at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women. According to the United Nations, 2 million Gazans are living in near-famine conditions.

On Wednesday, the tents at USC repeatedly went up and down, as officers with the campus Department of Public Safety told students to remove them and, at one point, dragged away lawn chairs. Students picked up their tents and walked with them in circles to avoid being in violation of a university “no camping” policy. At least two L.A. Police Department helicopters circled above Alumni Park.

At least two LAPD SWAT officers were present at the scene. Around noon, several campus officers surrounded and grabbed a protester during a confrontation. As students yelled for officers to let go of the person, the officers pulled out their batons but did not hit anybody. It is unclear what led to the clash.

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