Demonstrators gather outside the British embassy in Beirut to protest against the war in Gaza, November 14, 2023. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today)
Some 300 demonstrators protested against the war in Gaza outside the British Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday afternoon.
The protest was held at the invitation of "Lebanese parties and Palestinian factions," according to a Hezbollah statement. While the invitation to protest was announced by Hezbollah, the protest was not sent in the party's name.
Brandishing the flags of Palestine, the Syrian National Social Party, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), protesters began their movement calmly, in the presence of dozens of police and military personnel. But tensions escalated when demonstrators threw stones in the direction of the embassy. Police responded by firing a stun grenade, quickly ending the escalation.
Protesters waving Palestinian flags in front of the British embassy in Beirut, Nov. 14, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine)
"The UK is a sponsor of terrorism," Hezbollah official Mahmoud Comati told L'Orient Today. "The UK is a central accomplice in the crimes of the Zionist enemy," said a protester over a megaphone.
"The UK is at the root of the problem. It's the UK that granted a state to the Zionists," said Wafa Issa, 60, a Palestinian born in Lebanon who attended the protest. "Palestinians have the right to live. We are mobilizing to stop the genocide and massacres in Gaza. We want to return to our homeland."
The demonstration took place as a deadly war continues between Hamas and Israel. According to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli bombardments have killed more than 11,200 Palestinians since Oct. 7.
On Tuesday, the ministry said it was no longer able to update the death toll because it had no way of contacting the remaining hospitals in Gaza.
On the Lebanese-Israeli border, exchanges of fire continue between Hezbollah and Israel. The violence has resulted in the deaths of at least 88 people in Lebanon since the start of hostilities, including 65 Hezbollah fighters and 11 civilians, according to a report compiled by AFP.