Demonstrators opposing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip temporarily filled the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, calling for the release of a pro-Palestinian man. Police said they have arrested 98 of the demonstrators.



Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as a grassroots movement of American Jews, organized the protest.



The Department of Homeland Security says the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a former Columbia University graduate student, and his arrest was made "in support of" US President Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting anti-Semitism.



The detained man reportedly served as a mediator between protesters and Columbia University for pro-Palestinian protests held at the campus last year.



In a social media post on Sunday, Trump called him "a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University." The president said there are more students at US universities "who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic and anti-American activity." He warned that "the Trump administration will not tolerate it."



Jewish Voice for Peace criticized the Trump administration, noting that it has no interest in Jewish safety and is co-opting anti-Semitism "as their chant" just to get what they want.



Rallies calling for the activist's release have been held on a daily basis in New York.