Florida’s university system, working with Governor Ron DeSantis, has ordered colleges to shut down a pro-Palestinian student organisation, marking the first US state to outlaw the group whose national leadership backed Hamas’ attack on Israel.

According to Reuters, the State University System of Florida said chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had to be dismantled as part of a “crackdown” in the Republican-led state on-campus demonstrations that provide “harmful support for terrorist groups”.

“Based on the National SJP’s support of terrorism, in consultation with Governor DeSantis, the student chapters must be deactivated,” the system’s Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote in a memo to university leaders.

SJP is active in at least two Florida universities, Rodrigues said. The University of North Florida in Jacksonville and Florida State University in Tallahassee have SJP chapters, based on Instagram sites. The National SJP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.