Around two dozen California State University students have started what they say is an “indefinite” hunger strike in support of Palestinians facing starvation in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Wednesday marked the third day of the strike, with students from San Jose State, Sacramento State, San Francisco State and CSU Long Beach participating.

Students are demanding each CSU campus and the California State University system as a whole adopt policies divesting from companies that “supply weapons, military and surveillance technology, infrastructure or conduct activity that violates human rights as defined by international law.”

California State University said in a statement Wednesday that the university respects “the diverse beliefs and personal convictions” of its students, including those who have chosen to participate in the hunger strike, but strongly urged students to consider forms of expression that “do not jeopardize their health and well-being.”

“While the CSU and its 23 universities honor the right to protest and the diverse convictions expressed across our campuses, the CSU will not be altering its investment policies,” the university continued. “We will continue to uphold the values of free inquiry, peaceful protest and academic freedom — while keeping student health, safety and our mission at the forefront of all we do.”

Students are also calling for the universities to end any academic partnerships with “Zionist universities and the CSU International Program at the University of Haifa” and demanding CSU end its “time, place and manner” policy, which limits where, when and how students can protest on campus.

“We as San Jose State University students deplore our university’s administration for choosing to remain complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.” said Haddy Barghouti of Students for Justice in Palestine at the campus. “As the genocide continues, and San Jose State administration continues to ignore international law, it is up to us as students to take matters into our own hands and make the issue unavoidable, which is why we will be starving in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Gaza until university administration meets all of our demands.”

Barghouti said seven San Jose State students are participating in the hunger strike. San Jose State declined to comment on the strike beyond CSU’s official statement.

The move comes days after the University of San Francisco committed to divesting from defense companies tied to Israel after facing pressure from students. San Francisco State University pulled its investments from four companies tied to weapons manufacturing in August and Sacramento State became the first public California university to divest from companies that “profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing and activities that violate fundamental human rights” in May 2024.

Barghouti said though San Francisco State and Sacramento State have announced divestment plans, students at those campuses are striking in solidarity.

“We, the students of Sacramento and San Francisco State, acknowledge that our universities achieved individual divestment on our campuses, but the California State University system remains complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people through millions of dollars invested in defense companies and weapons manufacturers,” said Max Flynt, a member of the General Union of Palestine Students at San Francisco State University. “This act of solidarity aims to shed light on what exactly the people of Gaza are facing, and make it inescapable for the administrations of these universities as students have continued to organize since the beginning of this genocide. We will continue to strike in solidarity with other CSU campuses and with the people of Gaza who face bombardment and a forced starvation campaign facilitated by the Israeli government.”