Protests over the war in Gaza have taken hold at some of the top US universities as officials scramble to defuse demonstrations in the wake of major pro-Palestinian protests on Monday, and subsequent arrests of nearly 200 people.

Yale, New York University (NYU) and Columbia University are now at the frontline of the protests. On Monday, there were also demonstrations at MIT and the University of Michigan.

Police arrested more than 130 protesters on Monday night after breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment at New York University (NYU).

A New York University spokesman said the decision to call police came after additional protesters, many of whom were not thought to be affiliated with NYU, suddenly breached the barriers erected around the encampment.

This "dramatically changed" the situation, the spokesman said in a statement on the school's website Monday, citing "disorderly, disruptive and antagonising behavior" along with "intimidated chants and several antisemitic incidents."

However, the spokesman said the school continues to support freedom of expression and the safety of students.

On Monday, at least 47 others were arrested from the Yale campus after they refused to comply with requests to disperse.

Social media images late Monday appeared to show pro-Palestinian Jewish students holding traditional seder meals inside the protest areas on campuses including at Columbia University, where in-person classes were later cancelled.

On Sunday, a prominent rabbi linked to New York’s Columbia University and its affiliated Barnard College, Elie Buechler, urged Jewish students at the institution to stay home due to “extreme anti-Semitism” on the campus.

The White House has condemned antisemitic incidents that have marred some demonstrations.

When asked about the rallies on Monday, President Joe Biden said he condemned both "the antisemitic protests" as well as "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians".

Protest supporters and organisers have conflicting views, however.

About Monday’s arrests at NYU made on charges of trespassing, Helga Tawil-Souri, an associate professor of Middle East and Islamic studies at the university told Al Jazeera as she stood outside a police station, awaiting the release of several students and faculty members. “I don’t know how we trespass on our own campus.”

Tawil-Souri said the protest was peaceful. “I’ve been at NYU for almost 20 years and I’ve seen a number of protests happening. I don’t think I have ever seen a crackdown of this nature.”

Protests and heated debates about the Israel-Gaza war and free speech have rocked US campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, which prompted Israel's campaign in Gaza.

The protest movement gained major momentum last week after New York City police were called out to Columbia's campus and arrested more than 100 demonstrators.

On 18 April, New York police arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia on charges of trespassing. Several students were also suspended from Columbia and Barnard including Democrat House Representative Ilhan Omar’s daughter.

Rallies have spread since then. In addition to NYU and Yale, encampments have been set up at the University of California at Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Michigan, Emerson College and Tufts.

Like their peers, the NYU protesters are calling on their institution to disclose and divest its "finances and endowments from weapons manufacturers and companies with an interest in the Israeli occupation".

One student, Alejandro Tanon told the AFP news agency that the US was at a "critical moment", likening the protests to historic demonstrations over the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.

"We stand with Palestine and we stand with the liberation of all people," one protester told the BBC's US partner CBS News.