Protesters Storm Israeli Embassy In Jordan; Fires Seen
By Worthy News’ George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos
AMMAN (Worthy News) – Protesters have stormed the Israeli Embassy in Jordan’s capital, Amman, as violence broke out throughout the Middle East, and witnesses said they attempted to torch the building.
The clashes began after a rocket struck a church-run hospital in the Gaza Strip, possibly killing hundreds of people. Israel said a failed Islamic Jihad rocket had hit the Anglican-run Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, but the militant Hamas group blamed Israel.
“From an analysis of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operational systems, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed in the vicinity of the hospital, when it was hit,” the IDF said.
“According to intelligence information from several sources we have, the PIJ organization is responsible for the failed [rocket] fire that hit the hospital,” the IDF added.
Yet the statement did little to ease tensions with footage on social media from Shehab Agency, a Palestinian news outlet, showing demonstrators sieging the embassy building in Amman.
Witnesses saw Jordanian protesters hurling flaming Molotov cocktails at the Israel Embassy.
HAMAS CALL
The Jewish Press paper website said the embassy staff is safe.
Former Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal called for protests in front of Israeli embassies worldwide. The Jewish Press paper website said the embassy staff is safe.
Riots also hit the streets of Ankara, Turkey, where angry protesters attempting to storm the Israeli Embassy were halted by riot police. Protests were also reported in Hebron on the West Bank.
However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement late Tuesday night that the rocket stroke at the hospital shows that “terrorists” in Gaza attack innocent civilians.
“The entire world should know: It was barbaric terrorists in Gaza that attacked the hospital in Gaza, and not the IDF,” Netanyahu said in a statement late Tuesday. “Those who brutally murdered our children also murder their own children.”
In separate remarks, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog slammed “the terrorists” for again using their own civilians for what he suggested were cynical purposes.
“An Islamic Jihad missile has killed many Palestinians at a Gazan hospital – a place where lives should be saved,” Herzog said.
MEDIA CRITICIZED
“Shame on the media who swallow the lies of Hamas and Islamic Jihad – broadcasting a 21st-century blood libel around the globe,” the Israeli president stressed.
He added there should be “Shame on the vile terrorists in Gaza who willfully spill the blood of the innocent.”
In response to the explosion at the Gaza City hospital, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas canceled his participation in a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Earlier in the day, Abbas met in Amman with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Yet President Herzog urged the world to support his Jewish nation. “Never before has the choice been clearer. Israel is standing against an enemy made of pure evil. If you stand for humanity – for the value of all human life – you stand with Israel.”
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.