Gaza carnage anger may fuel wider conflict

CAIRO: Within hours after a blast was said to have killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank and at riot police in neighbouring Jordan, venting fury at their leaders for failing to stop the carnage. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt, King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - friends of the US - called off a planned summit with Joe Biden.
"This war, which has entered a dangerous phase, will plunge the region into an unspeakable disaster," warned Abdullah, who is among the closest Western allies in West Asia. Many Arabs view the US as not only being indifferent to the agony of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation but also complicit in it. US pledges of "ironclad" support for the country and no-strings-attached security aid have stoked those feelings as Israel prepares for a ground invasion of Gaza.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian teenagers near Ramallah in the West Bank during protests against Tuesday's hospital blast, Palestinian officials said. In Lebanon, security forces fired tear gas and water canon at protesters who were throwing projectiles as a protest near the US embassy north of Beirut turned violent, footage by Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed showed. In Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled suburbs, thousands of people gathered for a protest, chanting "Death to America". An Hezbollah official told the rally that the group was "thousands of times stronger" than before and the US and Israel should be careful.
State-sponsored marches were held across Iran, backer of Hamas and Israel's sworn foe, with demonstrators carrying banners that read "Death to America" and "Death to Israel". In Iraq, about 300 supporters of Iran-backed Shia militia groups protested near a bridge which leads to the fortified Green Zone, home to the US embassy and other foreign missions. In Amman, riot police pushed back thousands of Jordanian protesters planning to march on the heavily fortified Israeli embassy. Several police were injured in clashes with protesters who torched property near the Israeli embassy, police said. In Tunis, protesters burned Israeli and American flags and demanded the expulsion of the US and French ambassadors for what they termed their unconditional support for Israel. In Yemen, thousands marched in the capital Sanaa.