JERUSALEM – Thousands of miles away from the campus protests that have divided Americans, some displaced Palestinians are expressing solidarity with the anti-war demonstrators and gratitude for their efforts.

Messages of support were written on some tents in the southern city of Rafah, where roughly one million displaced people have sought shelter from the Israeli bombardment and ground fighting that Gaza health officials say have killed more than 34,000 people.

“Thank you, American universities,” read one message captured on video by the Reuters news agency. “Thank you, students in solidarity with Gaza, your message has reached (us)”, read another.

Tensions have risen at campuses across the US, with the police in riot gear arresting dozens of people at New York’s Columbia University on the night of April 30 and officers across the country clashing with pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had erected encampments and seized academic buildings at other institutions.

The protesters have been calling for universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel, and some have vowed not to back down.

The protests have come at a particularly fearful time for Rafah, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to launch a ground invasion of the city to root out Hamas battalions there despite glimmers of hope for a temporary ceasefire.

Palestinians “are very happy that there are still people standing with us”, said Mr Mohammed al-Baradei, a 24-year-old recent graduate from the dentistry programme at Al-Azhar University, who spoke by phone from Rafah.

“The special thing is that this is happening in America and that people there are still aware, and the awareness is growing every day for the Palestinian cause,” he added.

Mr Akram al-Satri, a 47-year-old freelance journalist sheltering in Rafah, said Palestinians are “watching with hope and gratitude the student movement in the United States”.

“For us, this is a glimmer of hope on a national level,” he added in a voice message on May 1.

Ms Bisan Owda, a 25-year-old Palestinian who has been documenting the war on social media, said in a video posted to her more than 4.5 million Instagram followers that the campus protests had brought her a new sense of possibility.

“I’ve lived my whole life in (the) Gaza Strip, and I’ve never felt hope like now,” she said. NYTIMES