Thousands of people demonstrated across the Arab world on Wednesday expressing their outrage after the deadly strike on a hospital in Gaza, which they blame on Israel, despite its denial.
Large rallies took place in Amman, Tunis, Beirut, Damascus and other capitals, such as Manama, the day after the tragedy which left at least 471 dead, according to the Ministry of Health of the besieged Gaza Strip, and sparked calls for a “day of anger” across the Arab world.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which controls the territory, accused Israel of being behind the strike. Israel, which says it has “evidence”, has blamed the explosion in the hospital in Gaza City on a failed rocket attack by Islamic Jihad – an ally of Hamas – which has described these accusations as “lies”.
On Wednesday, in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman, around 10,000 demonstrators, according to a Jordanian security source, gathered to demand the expulsion of the Israeli diplomatic mission following the attack.
Despite security forces blocking the roads leading to the embassy, the demonstration grew, demonstrating the anger in the streets in Jordan, a country that hosts a large number of Palestinian refugees.
“No Zionist embassy on Jordanian territory,” chanted the demonstrators, brandishing Palestinian flags.
In Bahrain, which also normalized its relations with Israel in 2020, a handful of activists gathered in front of the Israeli embassy in Manama, a neighborhood patrolled by police, calling in particular on their country to break its ties with Israel.
In Morocco, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the American consulate in Casablanca to denounce Washington’s support for Israel in its offensive against Gaza. Protesters held banners condemning “genocide,” “apartheid” and “occupation.”
“Serial massacres”
In Tunisia, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the French embassy, condemning Western support for Israel. Other demonstrations took place in other Tunisian cities.
Around thirty people also gathered near the American embassy in the northern suburbs of Tunis, while American President Joe Biden supported the Israeli version of the strike.
In Lebanon, hundreds of people took part in a demonstration called by pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Hamas ally in its stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, brandishing Palestinian and Shiite party flags.
“What is happening in Gaza is not a conflict or a war […]serial massacres are being committed,” declared a senior member of the movement, Hachem Safieddine.
“The Israelis will try to target more hospitals, paramedics, rescue workers and residents of Gaza without blinking an eye in order to expel” the residents, he added.
A few hundred people also went to the area around the American embassy in Awkar, near Beirut, after a call from Lebanese and Palestinian parties.
“No to America”
In Baghdad, around 200 people demonstrated near an entrance to the Green Zone, a fortified sector of the Iraqi capital, where foreign embassies are located, including that of the United States.
The demonstrators, including women, brandished flags of several Iraqi factions loyal to Iran, as well as portraits of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, noted an AFP photographer. Protesters chanted “No, no to America” and “Death to Israel.”
In Damascus, the Syrian capital, hundreds of people waving Palestinian flags gathered near Parliament, many wearing T-shirts bearing the image of President Bashar al-Assad.
Thousands of Egyptians also took to the streets on Wednesday in different cities across the country, where demonstrating is usually illegal, according to images broadcast by local media and on social networks.
In Yemen, a massive demonstration in support of the Palestinians took place in the capital Sanaa, in the hands of the Houthi rebels, close to Iran.
“The Yemeni people took to the streets to denounce […] the massacre at the hospital […] committed by the Zionists” and “tell them that our people will not sit idly by,” said a Houthi official, Fouad Naji.
In areas controlled by the Yemeni government, hundreds of people also demonstrated in Taiz and Marib.