Hezbollah announces ‘Day of Rage’ as cities across Middle East explode in anger after Gaza hospital explosion

The Lebanon-based terror organization Hezbollah declared a 'Day of Rage' in response to the alleged Israeli airstrike against a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of people on Tuesday, according to the Hamas terror group.

Israel Defense Forces denied responsibility for the explosion and presented evidence that a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organization was responsible for rocket that hit the hospital, killing hundreds.

“Tomorrow will be an unprecedented day of rage against the enemy and his sins, and against the visit of Biden in Israel that is meant to back and defend this criminal entity,” Hezbollah said in a statement Tuesday evening.

“The attack reveals the true criminal face of this entity and its sponsor ... the United States, which bears direct and complete responsibility for this massacre.”

Governments all over the region condemned the “Israeli attack” against the hospital, despite official Israeli denials.

Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Abraham Accords partner, the United Arab Emirates, among others, condemned Israel on Tuesday evening before the nation had even made an official announcement about the incident.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning over what he called the “hospital massacre,” and canceled his planned participation in a four-way summit on Wednesday with U.S. President Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The summit was then called off by Jordan.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for the killing of thousands of his own citizens, also declared three days of mourning.

Protests and riots broke out in cities across the Middle East just hours after the first reports of hundreds of casualties in the explosion at the hospital.

In Lebanon’s capital Beirut, hundreds gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, clashing with security forces until they were dispersed by tear gas, according to Reuters. Others protested in front of the French Embassy.

#BREAKING| Angry protesters broke into the #UN building in #Beirut in protest against the #BaptistHospital massacre in #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/NFqEhSwYsw

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 17, 2023

Hundreds more protested in the West Bank, with Palestinian security forces using tear gas to disperse a protest against its leader, Abbas, who was criticized for his conciliatory tone since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

Hundreds take to the streets in Ramallah shouting in "The people want the fall of the President," protesting Mahmoud Abbas' perceived inaction against the war between Israel and Gaza pic.twitter.com/vRFo7rA0iq

— Gianluca Pacchiani (@GLucaPacchiani) October 17, 2023

Demonstrations also took place in Jerusalem, where some Arab schools announced a strike to protest the loss of life.

The Israeli embassies in Amman, Jordan and Ankara, Turkey were also the target of violent protests. Jordanian security forces dispersed the crowd after it attempted to break into the embassy.

Additional protests were reported in Morocco, another one of Israel's Abraham Accords peace partner, and in front of the French embassy in Tunisia.

In a statement posted to X on Tuesday night, Israeli President Isaac Herzog harshly condemned the media for reporting Hamas’ version of the events surrounding the hospital explosion without vetting the facts

“An Islamic Jihad missile has killed many Palestinians at a Gazan hospital - a place where lives should be saved. Shame on the media who swallow the lies of Hamas and Islamic Jihad - broadcasting a 21st-century blood libel around the globe.”

“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,” Herzog said.