The outbreak of protests in the West Bank highlights long-simmering Palestinian anger against Mahmoud Abbas.
Ramallah, West Bank:
Palestinian security forces in Ramallah fired tear gas and stun grenades on Tuesday to disperse protesters throwing stones and chanting against President Mahmoud Abbas, as popular anger boiled over after a deadly hospital attack in Gaza that Palestinians blamed on Israel.
The attack on Gaza’s Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, which officials said killed about 500 people, was the deadliest incident in Gaza since Israel launched a campaign in retaliation for a deadly Hamas weapons attack by Israeli communities.
The Israeli military denied responsibility for the attack, blaming it on a failed Palestinian militant rocket launch. The strike drew condemnation from the West and the Arab world, and protests took place at the Israeli embassies in Turkey and Jordan and at the US embassy in Lebanon.
In the West Bank, where Abbas returned on Tuesday after canceling a planned meeting in Jordan with US President Joe Biden, hundreds of protesters marched in Ramallah’s central Manara Square, with some chanting in support of Hamas’ militant leaders.
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 area.
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