According to an AFP correspondent in Nablus, Palestinian security forces fired tear gas at protesters as they left the city center. Some demonstrators mocked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is a rival to the radical Islamic group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and has been criticized by Palestinians for its cooperation with Israel. “Down, down with Abbas,” the protesters shouted.
A similarly large protest took place in Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. There, the crowd chanted slogans showing their support for Hamas while opposing “security cooperation” with Israel.
At a demonstration late on Tuesday evening in Ramallah, shortly after the rocket fire on the hospital, protest participants clashed with Palestinian security forces.
The shelling of a hospital with, according to the latest Hamas figures, more than 470 dead caused horror around the world. Hamas blames Israel for the rocket strike, and Israel says it was a misguided rocket from the Palestinian militia Islamic Jihad.
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, at least 3,478 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health. According to Israeli figures, at least 1,400 people have been killed in Israel since the major Hamas attack a week and a half ago. Most of the victims on both sides are civilians.
