The $26 billion aid bill to Israel that was passed by the Senate last night and signed by President Joe Biden today has been the subject of protests by those who oppose U.S. military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.

The bill includes billions in weapons, as well as some humanitarian assistance.

It provides:

• $5.2 billion to restock Israel’s missile and rocket defense systems the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Iron Beam — $4 billion is for Iron Dome and David’s Sling, and $1.2 billion is for Iron Beam.
• $4.4 billion to resupply the Defense Department for military equipment and other assistance sent to Israel.
• $3.5 billion available for weapons systems and defense services for Israel through the Foreign Military Financing Program.
• A little more than $9 billion for humanitarian assistance.

The bill includes provisions to report whether any assistance to Gaza was diverted by Hamas.

The bill passed with a large bipartisan majority in the Senate, 79-18. It also includes military funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.

University of Southern California public safety officers detained pro-Palestinian demonstrators during clashes after officers tried to take down an encampment at the university in Los Angeles in support of Gaza today.

In an interview after his remarks at Columbia, House Speaker Johnson defended his comments that Jewish students are running for their lives on campus.

"They canceled classes out of fear of physical violence with these students," Johnson told NBC News after he was asked why that level of rhetoric was being used.

Many Jewish students talked about being afraid but did not describe running for safety.

Johnson went on to criticize the president of Columbia and other Ivy League schools, saying student protesters should be arrested after a certain point.

"These administrators can’t control their campus. The first responsibility of a university administrator is to keep their students safe," he said.

Asked about arresting students, Johnson said: "If you don’t get control of it, yes, they should be arrested."

The gates at the University of Southern California are closed because of a demonstration and anyone affiliated with the university must show identification to attend classes or other business on campus, school officials said this afternoon.

Students were urged to "avoid the center of campus unless you have a class," the university said in a statement.

The protest outside Doheny Memorial Library and in the center of academic buildings have been attended by many people who are not associated with USC, according to a letter to the USC community from Andrew T. Guzman, the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.

Law enforcement have arrested more than 20 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the state Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The statement said the Public Safety Department was called to campus today at the request of the university and Gov. Greg Abbott “in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass.”

Abbott, in reply to a video on X of pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin, said arrests were being made "right now" and "will continue until the crowd disperses.

"These protesters belong in jail," Abbott wrote on X. He added: "Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

Reports that Columbia University was calling in the National Guard to help maintain order are "baseless," the school's vice president of communications said.

"I also want to make a point about an assertion that's been made, a rumor that is baseless, about the university threatening to bring in the National Guard," Ben Chang said at a briefing today. "Let me be clear, that is untrue and an unsubstantiated claim."

Referring to statement sent out by the university last night, Chang said there was no mention of either New York police or the National Guard and pointed listeners to "the words of the statement as to what our focus is on."

“Our focus, our goal, is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," Chang said.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik met with House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of his remarks at the university this afternoon, Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president of communications, said at a briefing today.

When Johnson's visit to the university was announced, Chang said Shafik offered to meet with Johnson, R-La., and his House colleagues, which she did before their joint remarks.

"The president shares the representatives' focus on and commitment to the safety and security of all members of the campus community, and she appreciates help from all of those who offer it," Chang said.

Speaking outside the Low Library, Johnson and his colleagues called for Shafik to resign "if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos.”

Harvard University has joined the growing list of American universities holding solidarity encampment protests.

Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a group that describes itself on Instagram as a "coalition of Harvard students fighting for divestment and a #FreePalestine," posted today that it established a "liberated zone" on campus, joining a slew of other campuses across the country.

"Following the lead of our brave comrades on campuses across the country, this Liberated Zone is a demonstration of our love of justice, our hope for a free Palestine, and our dream of a liberated future for all," it said on Instagram. "We see our institution's complicity as one link among many that must be severed on the path to liberation."

The group is demanding that Harvard disclose any and all investments in "Israel, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine," as well as that it "divest from all such investment" and reinvest those resources into "Palestinian academic initiatives, communities, and culture."

It is also demanding Harvard drop charges against students for "organizing and activism, and commit to ending the weaponization of disciplinary policy."

The encampment was set up in Harvard Yard, according to the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. Harvard Yard was to be closed until Friday in anticipation of possible protests.

The University of Texas at Austin "does not tolerate disruptions of campus activities or operations like we have seen at other campuses," a spokesperson for the university's Division of Student Affairs said in a statement, referring to a number of pro-Palestinian encampments and protests that have popped up at schools across the country.

"This is an important time in our semester with students finishing classes and studying for finals and we will act first and foremost to allow those critical functions to proceed without interruption," the UT statement said.

The spokesperson shared a PDF of a letter sent to the Palestine Solidarity Committee last night, which says the university is "steadfast in our support of free speech" but asked the group to cancel the event because it "declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations."