Pro-Palestinian protesters set up tent encampment outside Los Angeles City Hall

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment in front of Los Angeles City Hall Monday night.

About 50 protesters with 20 tents were seen lined up on the sidewalks outside the building at Main and First streets, KABC-TV reported. Several tents had Palestinian flags and phrases such as “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza.”

The Los Angeles Police Department on X, formerly known as Twitter, said it was monitoring the non-permitted demonstration and urged people to keep an eye out for others on the street.

No arrests and no injuries have been reported. The police department went on an area-wide tactical alert out of an abundance of caution.

More than 3,000 people had been arrested on U.S. campuses before summer break began last month, including protesters at the University of California’s Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine campuses.

The latest Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking an additional 250 hostage. Palestinian militants still hold about 100 captives while Israeli bombardments and ground operations in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.