A University of Cambridge college has announced it will divest from arms companies after long-running student protests over the war in Gaza.

King’s College said on Tuesday it would cut its financial ties with defence firms to “align our approach to investments with the values of our community”.

A spokesman said the decision was “prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories” and made following advice from “external experts”.

It is the first Oxbridge college to announce it will divest from firms linked to the production of military equipment following a wave of student encampments following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East.

King’s College has been the epicentre of recent protest activity at Cambridge, with students holding a 100-day encampment on the lawn outside its main building on King’s Parade last year.

In an email to students, Dr Gillian Tett, the college’s provost, said its governing body had voted on Monday night to divest from any companies that are “involved in activities generally recognised as illegal or contravening global norms, such as occupation”.

The move will also see King’s College axe its financial links with organisations that “produce military and nuclear weapons” or components used to make arms equipment.

Dr Tett said the announcement “builds on wide-ranging discussions within the college about the relationship between its investments and its values, prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories”.

She said the college would remove arms firms from its investment portfolio “in the coming months and, we aim, by no later than the end of the calendar year”.