Correction: 08/03/2018: A previous version of this article stated that since 2014, more than ten student council representatives have been arrested by Israeli forces. This is incorrect. The ten arrests were made since 2004.

Israeli forces have arrested Omar Kiswani, president of the student council at Birzeit University, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

Online video footage showed six men dressed in civilian clothing pinning Kiswani to the ground, kicking and beating him while a few of them fired gunshots on campus.

According to Birzeit University, the group attacked Kiswani, 24, in front of the student council building.

Another armed Israeli unit had detained the university's guards in a room and "proceeded to use their firearms against the students while providing cover for the kidnapping operation".

"They were carrying guns inside their bags, they disguised as students and started shooting in broad daylight," said Sondos Hamad, coordinator of the Right to Education campaign.

Education under apartheid.



Earlier today, undercover Israeli occupation forces infiltrated Birzeit University campus, near Ramallah in the West Bank, and brutally arrested student council head Omar Kiswani.https://t.co/chkTNe17wR pic.twitter.com/scYBlSd4nb — Ben White (@benabyad) March 7, 2018

"They took him to the western gate of the university where Israeli military forces were waiting for him with their jeeps. We don't know where he is now."

An Israeli spokesperson did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment.

The abduction of Kiswani by Israeli occupation forces has been strongly condemned by @BirzeitUniv, who "call upon the academic community to support human rights and protest against these aggressions". https://t.co/chkTNe17wR pic.twitter.com/ko4s4J5ObG — Ben White (@benabyad) March 7, 2018

This is the second time Kiswani has been arrested. Previously, he spent a year in an Israeli jail due to his participation in a Hamas-affiliated group on campus.

According to the Right to Education campaign, arrests of Palestinian students on campus in the occupied West Bank are common.

"We believe his arrest has to do with his status as student president," Hamad said. "They tried to arrest him last week as well but he ran away," he added.

Hamad explained that a similar scenario occurred at the beginning of 2017 when two students were arrested at the campus gate by Israeli soldiers disguised as civilians.

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There are currently more than 60 students from Birzeit University imprisoned in Israeli jails.

Since 2004, more than ten student council representatives have been arrested by Israeli forces, out of which seven were presidents of the student union at the time of arrest.

Since US President Donald Trump's Jerusalem declaration, Birzeit University has noted an increase in student arrests.

Students at Birzeit University told Al Jazeera that affiliation with any political bloc, whether it is Fatah or Hamas, is prohibited by Israeli military orders.

"Birzeit is like any university in the world. Students are given space to express themselves and they have the right to belong to any political bloc but unfortunately, the Israeli occupation always violates our right to education and freedom of expression," Hamad said.