People stage protests in Jordan after Gaza Hospital explosion

Oct 18, 2023

Amman [Jordan], October 18 : Amid the explosion at a hospital in the Gaza Strip that killed hundreds of people, protests and skirmishes broke out in the West Bank, Lebanon and Jordan, The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday.
According to The Times of Israel, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to protest the explosion all across the West Bank. To control the crowd, the Palestinian forces in Ramallah fired tear gas at demonstrators who were calling for the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to step down.
The protesters are seeking the resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, over his conciliatory tone since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began earlier this month, The Times of Israel reported.
In videos, the protesters in Ramallah were seen chanting "The people want the fall of the President."
In Jordan, protesters tried to storm the Israeli embassy with videos circulating on X (Twitter) showing an angry crowd surrounding the building and attempting to force their way inside.
In Lebanon, Lebanese terror group and Iranian proxy Hezbollah called for a "day of rage" to condemn the hospital blast, as hundreds of demonstrators also gathered at the French and US embassies in protest.
According to The Times of Israel, Hezbollah, blamed the hospital blast on Israel, calling it a "massacre" and a "brutal crime."
Additionally, Jordan King Abdullah II has marked the Israel attack on Gaza as "brutal" and asked Israel to end it.
Taking to X, the Royal Hashemite Court (RHC) posted, "His Majesty King Abdullah II says Israel must end its brutal aggression on #Gaza"
It added, "His Majesty King Abdullah II says Baptist Hospital massacre in #Gaza is a heinous war crime that cannot be ignored."
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that intelligence from several sources revealed that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the unsuccessful rocket launch.
"An analysis of IDF operational systems indicates that a barrage of rockets was fired by terrorists in Gaza, passing in close proximity to the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza at the time it was hit," he posted on social media platform X.
"Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch which hit the hospital in Gaza," he added. "The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF," Netanyahu said in another post on X.
"Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children," he added.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, told CNN that the IDF "does not target hospitals."
"We only target Hamas strongholds, arms depots, and terror targets," he added.
Heinrich made his remarks after Palestinian sources claimed that initial estimates suggest an Israeli attack on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City resulted in 200 to 300 fatalities.
An explosion at the hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday claimed the lives of hundreds of people, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, as reported by Reuters.
A Gaza civil defence chief claimed on Al-Jazeera television that over 300 people were killed in the explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital.