The Belgian University of Ghent confirmed that it has cut ties with all Israeli universities and research institutions, because they are no longer compatible with its human rights policy.

Supporters of the Palestinians at the university have been organizing protests against the Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip and have been holding a sit-in at locations on the university campus since early May.

The university said in a statement today, Friday, that “its investigation highlighted concerns regarding the existence of links between Israeli academic institutions and the Israeli government, army, or security services.”

The investigation also pointed to a recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, which said the humanitarian situation in Gaza had deteriorated in the past few months.

The statement stated that the university, which severed its ties with three Israeli institutions two weeks ago, still had 18 partnerships with Israeli academic institutions.

The protesters, including students, professors, and activists, welcomed the decision, stressing the need for it to include non-academic Israeli institutions with which the university currently cooperates, stressing the continuation of the protests until this goal is achieved.

Earlier last week, two other Belgian universities announced changes in partnership with Israeli institutions.

The University of Antwerp said that it would suspend entering into new projects with Israeli partners, while the Free University of Brussels indicated that it would no longer start projects with Israeli partners.