Supposedly, it was a chemical weapon, supposedly also used by the IDF. There's a lot of "supposedly" here because TFA has very few facts -- it's not even clear if anybody was actually "doused" with anything.
If there was in fact a chemical weapon attack, it is available in the US and was presumably sourced from there.
At least one of the attackers was positively identified by witnesses as Yuval Hadari, that served under IDF Paratroopers special forces for three years. His likedin profile sat at https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuvalhadari but got erased after the skunk attack.
It's very obvious that media, the university and politicians look the other way because of the content of the protests that were attacked. If Muslims sprayed protesters at a pro-Israel rally with chemical weapons, they would be in jail that same day, and budgets for terrorism prevention would bloat all across the nation. That's not even a question. Instead we have faculty actually calling attempts to identify the perpetrators as "doxxing", while continuing to smear people. That plus the tacit approval in form of a wall of silence is all brown shirts need to do their thing.
just from one account:
> 72 hours since i was sprayed w/ skunk on campus: zero appetite, keep on throwing up, and i feel terrible. very fatigued and having trouble sleeping. skunk has not come out of my hair after 11 showers.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1749523794803257616
> amazing how we have to document our own hospitalizations, beg columbia university to investigate, identify the ppl who did it, & people still don’t believe us. I wish we were joking y’all, this has been a nightmare.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1749670357651366303
> fascinating how faculty members at this university are so quick to rebrand after inciting violence against arab, muslim, & palestinian students for months. We warned y’all for months that your words have consequences. I was telling admin & faculty about how they needed to be careful with their language since November. Sent dozens of emails & filed numerous reports while grieving my family in Gaza. Now eight students are hospitalized. Dozens are injured.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1749675386563146034
> almost 96 hours since I was sprayed w/ skunk on campus: skin is still burning. very dizzy and nauseous. turned in items for police evidence & having to throw away the rest. i finally got 6 hours of sleep. skunk water sticks to any fabric & cannot be washed out.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1749865142399992236
> Columbia University promised that the students who attacked us with chemical weapons are banned from campus. They’re still here & coming to @Columbia’s campus, according to student accounts. No arrests have been made, we’ve been left in the dark.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1750185681790337324
> here he is, going right up to protest attendees to harass them. this attacker is supposed to have been “banned from campus” but students are still seeing him @Columbia. Ten students have been hospitalized now and our attackers are still on campus.
-- https://twitter.com/itslaylas/status/1750195190084575712
> 120 hours since I was sprayed with skunk on campus: skin is still burning. hard to sleep for long periods bc it burns so bad. skunk is still in hair, after 12 showers. had some luck using a HEPA air purifier in my room & using charcoal soap but still dealing w/ bad symptoms.