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Manila Bulletin devider World devider Hundreds protest in West Bank after Gaza hospital strike

Hundreds protest in West Bank after Gaza hospital strike

Published Oct 18, 2023 01:52 pm

NABLUS, Palestinian Territories -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 the accusation 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.

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Palestinians wave the national flag during a demonstration in the city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank on October 18, 2023, protesting a strike on a Gaza hospital which killed hundreds a day earlier. (YURI CORTEZ/AFP)

"Free, free Palestine," they chanted.

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 shouted.

An AFP correspondent in Nablus said Palestinian security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they marched out of the city centre.

"I care about my people, I care about my city, I care about Gaza and Gaza people. So this is why I, perhaps in years I haven't spoken out, I'm speaking now," said Ferial, 50-year-old Nablus resident, who only provided her first name.

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.

During the demonstration, a small group of Palestinians with covered faces blocked a road and set tyres ablaze near a group of Israeli soldiers. Some threw stones, while others cobbled together Molotov cocktails.

A demonstration late Tuesday in Ramallah, a short while after the hospital blast, saw Palestinian security forces clash with protesters.

Health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza said the explosion killed at least 471 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 on 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.

At least 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli bombardment started, according to health officials.

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