In a statement, UCLA called the camp "both unlawful and a breach of policy. It led to unsafe conditions on our campus and it damaged our ability to carry out our mission."

"Demonstrators directly interfered with instruction by blocking students' pathways to classrooms," it added, while their clashes with pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators "put too many [students] in harm's way".

Addressing the nationwide protests hours later, Mr Biden said: "We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. But neither are we a lawless country.

"There's the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos. People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked."

• What do student protesters at US universities want?

The Uncommitted National Movement, a group of Arab-American voters opposed to Mr Biden's re-election campaign this year, accused him of "smearing" anti-war protesters.

"It's clear Biden isn't listening to young people nationwide, or to the over half a million uncommitted voters asking him to change course. We hope he hears us before it's too late," leader Abbas Alawieh said.

The campus protests in support of Gaza have now spread to nearly 140 colleges in at least 45 states, according to a BBC tally, and at least six other countries.

Demonstrators, who have been calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, are also demanding academic institutions financially divest from Israel and companies who stand to make money from the conflict.