Gaza: Further protests expected across the Middle East after hospital explosion in Gaza
By Ahmad Hadizat Omayoza, Mamos Nigeria
Further angry rallies and protests are expected across the Middle East and North Africa on Wednesday following an explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed at least 200 people.
Injured Palestinians injured in the explosion at Al-Ahli Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza City and admitted to Al-Shifa Hospital.
Gaza hospital explosion leaves hundreds in fear of death as Biden tries to fly in
As both sides continue to trade accusations, Joe Biden says he is ‘saddened and outraged’ by the explosion ” upon arriving in Israel, Biden suspected that the attack – which was not incited by the Israeli military – was carried out by Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, which called for a “day of outrage” on Wednesday.
Hezbollah’s call came in the wake of angry protests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and Iran. 4,444 people participated in a protest in front of the Israeli consulate to show solidarity with Palestinians in Istanbul.
Palestinian security forces have erupted in several cities in the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters who were throwing rocks and chanting at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas canceled a scheduled meeting with Biden in Jordan and returned to the West Bank.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched in Manara Square in central Ramallah, some supporting the leader of the militant Hamas group.
Clashes with Palestinian security forces also reportedly occurred in the West Bank in Nablus, Tubas, and the northern city of Jenin, which was the focus of a major Israeli military operation earlier this year.
In Lebanon, hundreds of security forces were deployed outside the U.S. embassy in the Beirut suburb of Awkal as protesters threw stones and set fire to nearby buildings, Agence France-Presse reported. Hundreds of people also gathered outside the French embassy in Beirut, holding Hezbollah flags and throwing piles of stones outside the embassy’s main entrance.
Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. State Department strengthened its travel advisory to “Do Not Travel” to Lebanon and permitted the voluntary and temporary departure of family members of U.S. government employees.
Demonstrators attempt to storm the Israeli embassy in Jordan’s capital Amman. Police used tear gas to disperse thousands of demonstrators who shouted pro-Hamas slogans and called on the government to close the embassy and scrap the peace deal with Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the city on Tuesday to lead US diplomatic efforts.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the British and French embassies in Tehran early Wednesday morning. Demonstrators chanted “death to France and Britain” and threw eggs at the wall of the French embassy in the Iranian capital.
In Libya, hundreds of protesters of all ages, some carrying Palestinian flags and covering their faces with Palestinian keffiyehs, marched through the streets of Tripoli and gathered in Martyrs Square. They shouted slogans in support of Gaza residents.
Television footage showed protests in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taz, as well as in Morocco’s capital Rabat and Iraq’s capital Baghdad.
