Australia's Melbourne University to disclose ties to defense firms

Australia's Melbourne University agreed to full disclosure of all weapons manufacturers amid calls for divestment from Israel, the university's grassroots coalition of students, staff and alumni for Palestine said on Wednesday.

"UoM finally agrees to one of our demands! Full disclosure of its ties to all weapons manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems and more," Unimelb for Palestine wrote on X.

"This is a first step. Divestment from those that profiteer from genocide remains our number one demand and we will not rest until full divestment is achieved," it added.

Sparked by similar demonstrations at US' Columbia University in April, students in colleges across the world hold pro-Palestine demonstrations to protest Israel's war on Gaza.

More than 35,700 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and nearly 80,000 others injured in Israeli attacks since last October.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.