Isra Hirsi was suspended along with two other students and they say the decision only 'galvanises the student body even more'

Three Barnard College students, including US lawmaker Ilhan Omar’s daughter Isra Hirsi, have been suspended for participation in an ongoing Gaza solidarity protest encampment at Columbia University in New York City.

The suspension of the three students came as university administrators called on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to dismantle the tents that had been set up earlier on Wednesday.

Several students told MEE that heavily armed police dressed in riot gear entered the university lawns on Thursday to tear down the 50-plus tents. By late Thursday afternoon, the camps were gone and dozens of students had been arrested.

The developments on Thursday followed the revelations that three students - Isra Hirsi, 21, along with Maryam Iqbal, 18, and Soph Dinu, 21 - had received letters earlier in the day informing them they had been suspended, effective immediately, due to refusing to pay heed to calls to end their protest.