Thousands of people have rallied in countries across the Middle East and North Africa to protest against a strike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed nearly 500 people, according to Palestinian officials in the besieged enclave.
Following calls for a “day of rage”, people in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and the occupied West Bank took to the streets on Wednesday to denounce the hit on al-Ahli Arab Hospital and express their solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Hamas, the group running the besieged Gaza Strip, has blamed Israel for the strike on the hospital. Israel has denied responsibility, claiming that a misdirected rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad was responsible. The group has rejected Israel’s accusation.
On Wednesday, thousands of people gathered outside the US and Israeli embassies in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Islamic parties in the country called for a general strike while the Jordanian government declared three days of mourning.
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In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, protesters clashed with security forces who used water cannons to disperse crowds close to the US embassy.
In Tunis, demonstrators gathered at the French embassy in the Tunisian capital, shouting slogans such as “The French and Americans are allies of Zionists”.
Students in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities in Egypt rallied at universities to condemn Israel’s airstrikes and chanted, “With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, Al-Aqsa.”
Meanwhile, in Ramallah, demonstrators again turned out in a show of solidarity with the people of Gaza enduring Israel’s heaviest bombardment in the wake of an unprecedented attack by Hamas inside Israel on October 7.
The protest came after people took to the streets on Tuesday night and were confronted by Palestinian security forces.
Overnight, demonstrations also took place in Turkey, Morocco, Libya and Iran.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies