Arab world erupts with fury over Gaza hospital bombing: Tens of thousands take to streets in protest as Hezbollah calls for ‘day of rage’ against Israel after missile strike that left hundreds dead
- Protesters held up a doll of a baby outside the French embassy in Tunisia today
- Hundreds rallied at the US and British embassies and scuffled with security
A Gaza hospital strike that killed at least 500 people has unleashed a torrent of condemnation across the Arab world, as tens of thousands took to the streets to protest in several countries.
Angry rallies took place in Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Iran and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with more planned today as Lebanon-based Hezbollah called for a ‘day of rage’ across the region.
Protesters raised a doll of a baby with red paint on its face, along with a sign which said: ‘Crime against humanity,’ and the Palestinian flag.
They were pictured outside the French embassy headquarters along the Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the centre of Tunis, Tunisia, today.
Hundreds rallied at the US and French embassies overnight, where they scuffled with security forces.
Demonstrators also made their voices heard outside the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan, today as security were deployed to keep the peace.
Yesterday evening, protesters in Rabat, Morocco were snapped holding up placards which said: ‘You just need to be humane to support Gaza,’ and waving the Palestinian flag as they took to the streets.
Thousands of people across Egypt also demonstrated today, according to Egyptian media.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had said that if he called for protests in support of the Palestinian cause, ‘you would see millions’ on the streets of Egypt – where protests are banned.
Egyptian volunteers gathered for a funeral prayer in front of the Rafah crossing, in the name of those killed in the blast at a hospital in Gaza yesterday.
Protesters raised a doll of a baby with red paint on its face, along with a sign which said: ‘ Crime against humanity,’ and the Palestinian flag in Tunis today
Protesters chant slogans as they gather for a demonstration outside the French embassy headquarters in Tunis today
Security forces intervene demonstrators trying to enter the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan
Protesters gather for a demonstration outside the French embassy headquarters in Tunis
Lebanese people gather in front of the United States Embassy to stage a protest about the Gaza hospital strike
Israeli and Palestinian militants have traded blame for the hospital strike on Tuesday night.
Israel’s Defence Forces have released a slew of evidence they claim proves an overnight explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people was caused by a misfiring rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
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In an audio clip procured by Israeli military intelligence, two alleged Hamas terrorists can be heard discussing the explosion and confirming the rocket came from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) – an independent jihadist group.
‘They are saying (the rocket) belongs to Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It’s from us?’ one alleged Hamas member asks in the clip provided by Israel’s military intelligence.
‘It looks like it,’ the other responded. ‘It misfired and fell on them… God bless – couldn’t it have found another place to explode?’
British intelligence is working rapidly to independently establish who was behind the blast in a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians, Rishi Sunak has said.
The Prime Minister urged MPs not to ‘rush to judgment’ on Wednesday as Israel and Hamas issued rival claims about the atrocity feared to have killed at least 500 at al Ahli.
Visiting Tel Aviv, US President Joe Biden appeared to side with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by telling him it ‘appears as though it was done by the other team, not you’.
But Mr Sunak told the House of Commons that he was unable to reveal the UK verdict after holding talks with the National Security Adviser and the Joint Intelligence Committee.
‘We should not rush to judgment before we have all the facts on this awful situation,’ he told Prime Minister’s Questions.
‘Every member will know that the words we say here have an impact beyond the House.
‘Our intelligence services have been rapidly analysing the evidence to independently establish the facts. We are not in a position at this point to say more than that.’
But he said they were working ‘at pace’ while ‘co-operating and collaborating with our allies on this issue as we look to get to the bottom of the situation’.
The deadly hospital blast comes just days after Netanyahu called for the ‘world to unite to defeat Hamas as it defeated ISIS and the Nazis’ while warning Iran and Hezbollah ‘not to test us’.
Netanyahu warned Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and their Iranian backers that they will pay a ‘high price’ if they enter the conflict and join Hamas in its war against Israel.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which both established ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords of 2020, condemned the ‘Israeli’ attack which came as Israel lays siege to Gaza.
Egyptian volunteers gather for a funeral prayer, for those killed in a blast at a hospital in Gaza yesterday
Egyptian volunteers gather for a funeral prayer for those killed in a blast at a hospital in Gaza yesterday in front of the Rafah crossing
In the West Bank, protesters set various items on fire after a hospital in Gaza was struck yesterday
Hundreds of demonstrators in the West Bank took to the streets
Yesterday evening, protesters in Rabat, Morocco were snapped holding up placards which said: ‘You just need to be humane to support Gaza,’ and waving the Palestinian flag as they took to the streets
Protesters rally outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Children show their support for Gaza by holding up signs in Sidon, Lebanon
In the West Bank, protesters burn tyres after a hospital in Gaza was struck yesterday
Police block protesters who were attempting to get into the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
Protesters gather for a demonstration outside the French embassy headquarters along the Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the centre of Tunis today
Demonstrators were pictured in Libya yesterday evening
In Tehran, Iran, people gathered outside the British embassy
People are pictured chanting in the West Bank today
Demonstrators gathered outside French embassy in Tunisia
Protesters were pictured chanting and carrying cones today in Tunisia
‘The United Arab Emirates strongly condemns the Israeli attack… resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people,’ the UAE’s official WAM news agency said earlier on today.
Bahrain’s foreign ministry ‘expressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s condemnation and strong denunciation of the Israeli bombing’, the Bahrain News Agency said.
Morocco, another country that recognised Israel in 2020, also blamed it for the strike, as did Egypt, which became the first Arab country to normalise relations in 1979.
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi condemned in the strongest terms ‘the Israeli bombing’ of the Ahli Arab hospital, which led to ‘the deaths of hundreds of innocent victims’ among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.
He called the ‘deliberate bombing’ a ‘clear violation of international law’.
Saudi Arabia, which has ended talks on potential ties with Israel since the Israel-Hamas war flared, called the blast a ‘heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces’.
Jordan said Israel ‘bears responsibility for this grave incident’ while Qatar, which has close ties to Hamas, slammed the ‘brutal massacre’.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, also blaming Israel, called it ‘a war crime, a crime against humanity, and organised state terrorism’.
Gulf Cooperation Council secretary general Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said it was ‘glaring evidence of the serious violations by the Israeli occupation forces’.
The Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit called on Tuesday for leaders to ‘stop this tragedy immediately’.
‘What diabolical mind intentionally bombards a hospital and its defenceless inhabitants?’ he wrote on X, previously Twitter.
The strike came during a wave of deadly Israeli air strikes on Gaza following an attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed 1,400 people.
Iraq, which also blamed Israeli authorities, demanded an ‘immediate and urgent resolution’ from the UN Security Council to stop Israel’s Gaza onslaught, as hundreds protested in the capital Baghdad, brandishing Palestinian flags.
Algeria condemned the strike as a ‘barbaric act’ carried out by ‘occupation forces.’
Libya’s Tripoli-based internationally recognised government called the hospital strike a ‘despicable crime’ as several hundred people protested in Tripoli and other Libyan cities.
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