Hundreds of Lebanese protesters, including some waving Palestinian flags, thronged the US embassy in Beirut on Tuesday evening in response to a massive explosion at a Gaza City hospital that reportedly killed hundreds of people.
Police had to use tear gas to disperse protesters who gathered outside the embassy hours before President Biden’s arrival in neighboring Israel to show support for the Jewish state in its conflict with the Hamas terrorist group.
A protester is seen in a video posted to social media climb the barbed wire fence around the building to plant the Palestinian flag on the embassy’s flagpole while fellow rally members cheered from below.
Elsewhere in Beirut, protesters descended on the French embassy.
The two demonstrations came just hours after Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah called for an “unprecedented day of rage” in Beirut following a deadly explosion at a Gaza medical center.
A Lebanese protester sits outside the US embassy as a fire rages behind its gates after clashes with Lebanese security forces on Oct. 18. 2023. AFP via Getty Images A Lebanese protester flashes a V sign for victory as flames rage behind the security gate of the US embassy after clashes with security forces during a demonstration of solidarity with Gazans in Awkar, East Beirut, on Oct. 17. 2023. AFP via Getty Images Lebanese protesters hang Palestinian flags and signs at the US embassy fence.REUTERS
The Hamas-run Health Ministry claimed Israel was responsible for the hospital explosion, while the Israel Defense Forces blamed a failed Hamas rocket for the massacre that Gaza authorities said left 500 people dead.
The attack marked the deadliest single incident during Israel’s war against Hamas, which erupted after the terror group attacked the Jewish state on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people.
Meanwhile, Biden’s trip to Tel Aviv originally included a stop in Amman, Jordan until the country’s government canceled following the attack in Gaza City.
“After consulting with King Abdullah II of Jordan and in light of the days of mourning announced by President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, President Biden will postpone his trip to Jordan and his planned meeting with both these leaders and President Sisi of Egypt,” White House said in a statement.
People stand in front of a fire that broke out outside a security fence, during clashes between protesters and security forces outside the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 18. 2023. ABBAS SALMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Protesters are hit with tear gas after crowding the embassy.AFP via Getty Images Protesters protest against an explosion at a hospital in Gaza City, which killed more than 500 people.AFP via Getty Images
“The President expressed his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza and wished the injured a speedy recovery. He looks forward to consulting personally with these leaders soon, and has agreed to remain on a regular basis and engage directly with each of them in the coming days.”
Early Monday, the IDF ordered people living in 28 communities near the Lebanese border to evacuate.
Hezbollah has not said whether it will go to war with Israel, although the two countries have launched several attacks against each other since the Israel-Hamas conflict began last week.
The World Health Organization said on Monday it had sent two shipments of medical supplies to Beirut in preparation for a potential escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border.
Citing the “unpredictable security situation” in Lebanon over missile and rocket attacks back and forth between Israel and Hezbollah, the US State Department on Tuesday warned Americans not to travel to the country.
Relatives of US government employees and some non-emergency employees at the embassy in Beirut were also authorized by the State Department to leave Lebanon, according to the travel advisory.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
