Protesters Near US Embassy in Beirut Sprayed with Water Cannon, Teargas

Protesters take cover from teargas fired by riot police during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the US embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP)
Protesters take cover from teargas fired by riot police during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the US embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP)
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Protesters Near US Embassy in Beirut Sprayed with Water Cannon, Teargas

Protesters take cover from teargas fired by riot police during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the US embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP)
Protesters take cover from teargas fired by riot police during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza, near the US embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP)

Lebanese security forces used teargas and water cannon to repel scores of protesters demonstrating on Wednesday near the US embassy in Beirut against what they said was Israel's attack on a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians.

The United States has been targeted for criticism across the region for pledging ironclad support for Israel in its war in Gaza after Palestinian group Hamas carried out a deadly cross-border attack into Israel on Oct. 7.

Demonstrators, who blame Israel for Tuesday's blast at the Gaza hospital although Israeli officials say it was a misfired rocket from a Palestinian group, were prevented from reaching the embassy's boundary by barricades blocking roads hundreds of meters (yards) from the mission in a north Beirut suburb.

Some protesters waved Palestinian flags while others hurled stones at the security forces, who pushed them back with water cannon and volleys of teargas. Television footage from the scene showed flames licking up from a building near the barricades.

Elsewhere in Beirut, thousands of protesters gathered in south Beirut at a demonstration called by Iran-backed Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006. Hezbollah officials denounced Israel and the United States for the hospital blast.



Egyptian FM Pushes for ‘De-escalation’ Dialogue in Call with European Diplomats

Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
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Egyptian FM Pushes for ‘De-escalation’ Dialogue in Call with European Diplomats

Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Emergency personnel walk near damaged vehicles at an impact site following a missile strike from Iran on Israel, in Holon, Tel Aviv, Israel June 19, 2025. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and British National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell on Thursday about the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

In a statement after the call, Abdelatty said that the E3, an informal foreign and security cooperation arrangement between the UK, Germany and France, is responsible for opening “channels for dialogue and negotiation and utilize all available channels with the Iranian side to reach compromises that contribute to de-escalation.”

Abdelatty also held calls Tuesday with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister reportedly stressed “the necessity of working toward de-escalation in the region and resorting to diplomatic and political solutions that contribute to containing the escalating situation and averting the risk of a widespread conflagration in the Middle East.”

Abdelatty “underscored the imperative of achieving an immediate ceasefire and returning to the path of negotiations as the only means to reach a sustainable agreement regarding the Iranian nuclear program,” his office said in a statement.