WASHINGTON (DC News Now) -- Students in the District have been gathered at George Washington University (GWU) for over 24 hours to protest the war in Gaza. Control fences around the George Washington University encampment on Friday morning. (Ya-Marie Sesay/DC News Now) Hundreds of students, faculty and staff from GWU and Georgetown University began staging an encampment at GWU's campus on Thursday morning. Just before the rally began on Friday, GWU officials placed control fences around the front of the encampment. THURSDAY: GWU protest continues into evening, students set up encampment in solidarity with Gaza Students said they are demanding universities in the area divest any investments from Israel over the Palestinian deaths in Gaza due to the Israeli war. College students across the DMV - and the United States - have been joining peers in New York, who protested the use of force by the Israeli government in Gaza over the course of the past week.