Protesters in Beirut, Lebanon, on Tuesday night included many carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags. Hamas’s false claims that Israel had attacked a hospital in Gaza prompted the demonstrations. This happened the day before Vice President Joe Biden was scheduled to visit Israel to demonstrate support for the country after it was attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Hezbollah, located in Lebanon, had called for “a day of unprecedented anger” against Israel and the United States, which coincided with the event.
U.S. military officers used tear gas to disperse the gathering after protestors scaled a fence, planted a Palestinian flag at the embassy, and set a building on fire near the security gate. The U.S. State Department subsequently permitted a “voluntary, temporary departure” of non-emergency workers and family members of government employees from the embassy. There is a “unpredictable security situation” in Lebanon, thus the U.S. Department of State has issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” recommendation.
The warning stated, “Reconsider travel to Lebanon due to terrorism, civil unrest, armed conflict, crime, kidnapping, and Embassy Beirut’s limited capacity to provide support to U.S. citizens.”
Earlier, media outlets and left-leaning politicians had repeated a Palestinian official’s claim that Israel had killed 500 civilians in the Gaza Strip by bombing a hospital. A barrage of rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, however video evidence of the explosion revealed that the area around the hospital was lighted up with fire. A Hamas rocket appeared to have crashed inside the medical facility due to a malfunction. The rocket had landed in the hospital parking lot, as seen in surveillance footage taken after the fact, inflicting only minor damage to the surrounding area.
Israel ultimately determined that a misfired Hamas rocket caused the explosion in the hospital. A recording of the moment Hamas militants discovered one of their missiles had hit the hospital was also released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
After what happened in the hospital parking lot, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, King Abdullah of Jordan, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt, and Vice President Joe Biden had to call off their planned meeting. The trip was called off right before Biden was to leave for Israel. For the second time in a week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with President Abbas to address Hamas’ attack on Israel. This meeting took place in Jordan. During their first encounter, Blinken praised President Abbas for his efforts to reduce tensions between the Palestinians and the Israelis. As for security, he reiterated that the United States is committed to working with the Palestinian leadership.