Thousands of anti-United States demonstrators descended on the U.S. embassy in Beirut following a bomb or missile strike on a Christian Gaza hospital.
The Tuesday explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City was blamed on a misfired rocket from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group by Israel and on an Israeli air force air strike by Hamas and Palestinian authorities. Most of the Muslim world immediately accepted the latter explanation, with Hezbollah declaring a “day of unprecedented anger” against Israel soon after. The group also laid significant blame for the attack on the U.S. Soon after the statement, thousands of protesters descended on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
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Video posted on social media appeared to show a massive throng of vehicles clogging up the road headed to the U.S. Embassy.
It looked like several thousand protesters, brandishing Palestinian, Lebanese, and Hamas flags, surrounded the embassy and clashed with police. Video appeared to show the protesters raising a Palestinian flag over the embassy complex.
Another video showed what looked like protesters setting fire to part of the embassy complex.
However, Lebanese police and security forces intervened with water canons and tear gas, preventing protesters from storming the heavily fortified embassy. Reporters from Al Jazeera covered some of the chaos as protesters were prevented from breaching the embassy. It was reported that the protesters laid significant blame on the U.S. for the hospital explosion, saying that its “unconditional support” was the cause.
After being unable to break into the American Embassy, many turned their fury to the French Embassy, according to social media posts.
🇵🇸Hezbollah supporters raised Palestinian and Hamas flags on the wall of the French embassy in Beirut
Previously, local residents tried to break into the US embassy, but were unable to do so and switched to the French diplomatic mission. pic.twitter.com/iAhPDITLjT
— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko) October 17, 2023
Shortly after the assault on the U.S. Embassy, the State Department issued a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory for Lebanon.
In its statement condemning the “horrific and barbaric crime,” Hezbollah blamed the “criminal Zionist gangs” for the hospital bombing despite fervent denial from Tel Aviv. It claimed the incident was a “continuation of previous massacres since the establishment of this usurping criminal organization.”
It cited such incidents as the Sabra and Shatilla massacre, an incident during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon when Israeli Defense Forces surrounded a Palestinian refugee camp within Beirut while a Christian militia murdered up to 3,000 civilians.
Critically, the statement also condemned Israel’s “evil patron and greatest criminal, the United States of America, who is directly and fully responsible for this massacre and all the crimes of the Zionist enemy.”
It then called for all Muslim people to take to the streets to express their anger, declaring Wednesday a “day of unprecedented anger against the enemy and its crimes, and of Biden’s trip to the Zionist regime to cover and protect this criminal.”
The Biden administration echoed Israel’s explanation for the tragedy, and the president expressed his condolences to the victims. He also announced the cancellation of a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan after Abbas declared his intention not to attend after the hospital explosion.
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“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 travel to Jordan and the planned meeting with these two leaders and President Sisi of Egypt,” a White House spokesperson said. “The president sent his deepest condolences for the innocent lives lost in the hospital explosion in Gaza and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded. He looks forward to consulting in person with these leaders soon, and agreed to remain regularly and directly engaged with each of them over the coming days.”
In response to the hospital bombing, violent protests by pro-Palestinian demonstrators were recorded in Turkey, Jordan, Spain, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and the West Bank.
