Clashes between Palestinians and Abbas’s forces in the West Bank after a hospital was bombed in Gaza
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters throwing stones and chanting against President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, as popular anger mounted after a deadly attack on a Gaza hospital that Palestinians blamed on… Israel.
The raid on the National Arab Hospital in Gaza, which officials said killed about 500 people, was the deadliest incident in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign in response to a deadly attack by Hamas on Israeli communities.
The Israeli army denied responsibility for the attack and blamed it on a failed Palestinian rocket launch. The strike sparked condemnations from the West and the Arab world, and protests were organized in front of the Israeli embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the American embassy in Lebanon.
In the West Bank, where Abbas returned on Tuesday after canceling a scheduled meeting in Jordan with US President Joe Biden, hundreds of demonstrators marched in Al-Manara Square in central Ramallah, some chanting in support of the leaders of armed Hamas.
Clashes also broke out with Palestinian security forces in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tubas and Jenin, a northern city that was the focus of major Israeli military operations earlier this year, according to witnesses.
The outbreak of protests in the West Bank highlights long-simmering Palestinian anger against Abbas, whose forces have long faced criticism for coordinating with Israel on security in the region.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta, writing by Rami Ayoub, editing by Sandra Maler)
