Jordanian police beat protesters, arrest dozens trying to march toward Israeli embassy
AMMAN (Reuters) — Jordanian anti-riot police beat and arrested dozens of demonstrators trying to march towards the heavily guarded Israeli embassy in the capital Amman, witnesses and residents say.
More than two thousand protesters gathered late on Tuesday, the third day of demonstrations which have been marred with clashes, after baton wielding-police pushed back hundreds of angry crowds seeking to storm the embassy compound in the affluent Rabae district of Amman.
The Israeli embassy, where protesters gather daily, has long been a flashpoint of anti-Israel protests at times of escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israel.
Many demonstrators chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian Islamist terror group Hamas.
3 days of mass protests at the Israeli embassy in Jordan pic.twitter.com/3EfjJT1fvr
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Jordanian authorities are concerned that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre, could broaden Hamas’s popularity among many Jordanians.
“Oh Hamas…All of Jordan’s people are behind you,” the protesters chanted.
Passions have run high among Jordanians, many of whom are of Palestinian origin, over the ongoing war in Gaza and the scene of carnage in the Palestinian enclave.
Jordan has seen some of the biggest outpourings of public anger in the region since the war was triggered by Hamas’s murderous rampage across southern Israel almost six months ago, when thousands of terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages.
Authorities in Jordan say peaceful protests are allowed but they would not tolerate any attempt by mobs who sought to exploit anger against Israel to create havoc or try to reach a border zone with the West Bank or Israel.
Amnesty International last month called on Jordanian authorities to end what it said was a sweeping crackdown that has seen hundreds of people arrested for expressing their support for Palestinians in Gaza or criticizing Jordanian government polices towards Israel.
Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel is widely unpopular among many citizens who see normalization as betraying the rights of their Palestinian compatriots.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.