News - Arab world protests after Gaza hospital attack

A blast at the al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza that has left hundreds dead has become a lightning rod for anger across the region, sparking protests across the Arab world and beyond, The Guardian reports. Hamas has blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military has said the hospital was hit by a rocket barrage launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Islamic Jihad also denied responsibility. Lebanon’s Hezbollah called for a “day of rage” to coincide with US President Joe Biden’s arrival to the region. Following Hezbollah’s call, hundreds of demonstrators scuffled with Lebanese security forces outside the US embassy in the suburb of Awkar, outside Beirut, where protesters hurled stones and set a nearby building on fire, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Police fired several rounds of teargas to disperse protesters, while medics treated people affected by the teargas. AFP reported the protesters chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel”. Hundreds also gathered at the French embassy in Beirut, raising Hezbollah flags and also hurling stones which piled up at the embassy’s main entrance. Early on Wednesday, the US State Department raised its travel alert for Lebanon to “do not travel,” while authorizing the voluntary, temporary departure of family members of US government personnel. In Jordan’s capital, Amman, protesters attempted to storm the Israeli embassy. Police used teargas to disperse several thousand demonstrators who chanted slogans in support of Hamas and demanded the government close the embassy and scrap a peace treaty with Israel. In Tehran, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the British and French embassies in the early hours of Wednesday. “Death to France and England,” protesters shouted, throwing eggs at the walls of the French embassy compound in the Iranian capital. In Libya, hundreds of demonstrators of all ages, brandishing Palestinian flags and some covering their faces with Palestinian keffiyehs, crisscrossed the streets of Tripoli before converging on Martyrs’ Square. They chanted slogans of support for the residents of Gaza. Television footage also showed protests in Yemen’s south-western city of Taz, as well as in the Moroccan capital Rabat and Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the blast at the hospital in Gaza was “the latest example of Israeli attacks devoid of the most basic human values,” while large crowds of protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Istanbul. Late on Tuesday, clashes with Palestinian security forces broke out in a number of cities in the West Bank, which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired teargas and stun grenades to disperse protesters throwing rocks and chanting against PA president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas was returning to the West Bank after canceling a planned meeting in Jordan with Biden. Hundreds of demonstrators marched in Ramallah’s central Manara Square, with some in support of Hamas’ militant leaders. Clashes with Palestinian security forces also reportedly broke in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tubas and Jenin. Analysts said that the outbreak of West Bank protests highlighted long-simmering Palestinian anger against Abbas, who has long faced criticism for coordinating with Israel on security in the territory.