Hundreds protest in West Bank after Gaza hospital strike
A Palestinian man flashes the victory sign during a demonstration in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on October 18, 2023, protesting a strike on a Gaza hospital which killed hundreds a day earlier
Nablus – Palestinian protesters took to the streets in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, blaming Israel for a strike on a hospital in war-torn Gaza that killed hundreds.
Israel has denied blame and said the hospital was hit by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired.
Hundreds of protesters in Nablus, many draped in Palestinian flags and some holding Hamas banners, chanted slogans against Israel and its ally the United States.
“Free, free Palestine,” chanted the protesters.
Others derided Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is Hamas’s rival and has been criticised by Palestinians over its collaboration with Israel.
“Down, down with Abbas,” they chanted.
An AFP correspondent in Nablus said Palestinian security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they marched out of the city centre.
A similar sized protest took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, where the crowd chanted in support of Hamas and against “security coordination” with Israel.
A demonstration late Tuesday in Ramallah, a short while after the hospital blast, saw Palestinian security forces clash with protestors.
Health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza said the explosion killed between 200 and 300 people and was caused by the latest in a wave of Israeli air strikes.
The Israeli military, however, blamed Palestinian militants, saying it had evidence that an outgoing Islamic Jihad rocket had misfired.
After touching down in Tel Aviv Wednesday morning, US President Joe Biden threw his support behind Israel’s account of the strike, telling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “it appears as though it was done by the other team”.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which both established ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords of 2020, condemned what they called the “Israeli” attack.
Morocco, another country that recognised Israel in 2020, also blamed it for the strike, as did Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab country to normalise relations with Israel.
For 12 days now, Israel has carried out a withering bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for the killing of 1,400 people who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death in shock cross-border attacks launched by Hamas on October 7.
Around 3,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli air strikes, according to health officials.