RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters throwing rocks and chanting against President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, as popular anger boiled over after a deadly Gaza hospital attack that Palestinians blamed on Israel.
The strike on Gaza’s Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, which officials said killed about 500 people, was the deadliest single incident in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign in retaliation for a deadly Hamas gun rampage through Israeli communities.
Israel’s military denied responsibility for the strike, blaming it on a failed Palestinian militant rocket launch. The strike drew condemnation from the West and the Arab world, and protests were staged at Israel’s embassies in Turkey and Jordan and near the U.S. embassy in Lebanon.
In the West Bank, where Abbas was returning on Tuesday after canceling a planned meeting in Jordan with U.S. President Joe Biden, hundreds of demonstrators marched in Ramallah’s central Manara Square, with some chanting in support of Hamas militant leaders.
Clashes with Palestinian security forces also broke 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 West Bank protests highlights long-simmering Palestinian anger against Abbas, whose forces have long faced criticism for coordinating with Israel on security in the territory.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Sandra Maler)
