Firebombs, protest across region complicate path for U.S., Israel

Protesters in Lebanon battled security forces and threw Molotov cocktails at the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations brought thousands into the streets across the Middle East, denouncing Israel and the U.S. And the Pentagon late Wednesday announced soldiers from the U.S.-led allied mission in Iraq were being evaluated for possible brain trauma after three drones possibly sent by Iran-allied militia groups targeted their base.

The string of incidents underscored the tinderbox nature of the region in the days since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,400 Israelis and sparked a retaliation campaign in Gaza by Israel that could soon lead to a ground war in the Palestinian enclave.

Popular opinion in the region has only been further inflamed by the disputed accounts of a bombing of a Gaza hospital this week that killed hundreds, despite U.S. and Israeli intelligence that suggested an errant missile fired by a Palestinian militant group may be to blame.

The protests also come as the Pentagon is surging troops, ships and weaponry to the region in an attempt to keep the Israeli-Palestinian clash from metastasizing into a regional war. President Biden wrapped up a quick visit to Israel Wednesday, scrubbing a planned visit to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders because of the rising regional divisions.

Signs that the tensions growing out of the Oct. 7 Hamas surprise attack were escalating were not hard to find.

Protests and demonstrations against Israeli, U.S. and European diplomatic sites have been staged in recent days in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Libya, Iraq, Jordan, the West Bank and other Muslim-majority areas. Western nations were warning their citizens to evacuate from some tense countries and to cancel any plans to travel to the region.

The U.S. consulate office in Adana, Turkey, was shuttered after protesters reportedly hurled fireworks and lighted objects at the building Tuesday night. In Jordan, considered one of the more moderate Arab states that has long had relations with Israel, several police officers were reported wounded In Amman holding back a mob of thousands planning a march on the heavily fortified Israeli Embassy in Amman.

In Washington, hundreds of protesters occupied a ground-floor chamber of the House’s Cannon Office Building Wednesday, demanding a cease-fire and chanting that Israel must pull back from a retaliatory strike against Hamas and its allies in Gaza.

The U.S. State Department and British Foreign Service both issued travel warnings urging their citizens not to travel to Lebanon. In Morocco, a country that three years ago signed on to the U.S.-mediated Abraham Accords normalizing relations with the Jewish state, the Israeli ambassador flew home with the embassy staff following mass demonstrations in recent days in support of the Gaza Palestinians, the Times of Israel reported.

No one was apparently injured in the U.S. Embassy fire in Beirut, but family members of the embassy’s staff and nonessential personnel were given clearance to leave the country. Lebanese security forces were seen on local television footage firing tear gas canisters and water cannons at projectile-throwing protesters.

Lebanon is home to the Shiite militia movement Hezbollah, which is aligned with Hamas and Iran in a “rejection front” that has long battled Israel. Multiple firings across both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border have erupted since the Hamas attack, sparking fears the clash may grow into a regional war.

The U.S. travel advisory came just hours after the Beirut protests began Tuesday, citing the “unpredictable security situation related to rocket, missile and artillery exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah or other armed militant factions.”

The advisory continued: “U.S. citizens should avoid demonstrations and exercise caution if in the vicinity of any large gatherings or protests, as some of these have turned violent. Protesters have blocked major roads, including thoroughfares between downtown Beirut and the area where the U.S. Embassy is located, and between Beirut and Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.”

According to videos and local press reports, hundreds of demonstrators, some waving Palestinian flags, gathered in front of the American compound in Beirut after word came of a still-unexplained bomb attack that killed hundreds at a crowded hospital in Gaza.

Some of the protesters came armed with Molotov cocktails, apparently starting the fire that could be seen in videos behind the security gate of the U.S. Embassy.

The State Department advisory said the U.S. Embassy remained open for business despite the voluntary evacuations but encouraged Americans living in Lebanon to leave or take measures to ensure their safety.

“The Department of State urges U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon,” the advisory read. “We recommend that U.S. citizens in Lebanon make appropriate arrangements to leave the country; commercial options currently remain available. We recommend that U.S. citizens who choose not to depart prepare contingency plans for emergency situations.”

Wider war

The big fear for the U.S. and Israel is that the protests will help spark a wider war drawing in Iran and Hezbollah’s well-armed and well-trained militia forces into the fight. Iranian and Hezbollah officials have said they did not know of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack but appear willing to exploit the passions it has unleashed.

Hezbollah called for a “day of rage against the enemy,” helping fuel the Beirut attack, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian warned in a television interview this week that “time is running out” for Israel. It is “inevitable,” the minister said, that Iran’s proxies in the region will soon intervene to aid Hamas unless Israel backs down.

Iran has forged powerful alliances with Iraqi Shiite militia groups, leading inevitably to speculation that Wednesday’s drone attacks in Iraq may be linked to a larger anti-U.S., anti-Israel campaign.

Shortly before the drones were being fired, about 300 Shiite militia supporters were protesting against Israel near a bridge that leads to the fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy, the Reuters news agency reported.

“Americans must know that their support to the terrorist Israel will bring them defeat and devastation,” militia member Said Ali Akbar said, waving a Palestinian flag.
Pentagon officials said three drones targeted U.S. troops stationed in Iraq on Wednesday, with some American forces reportedly being evaluated for brain injuries suffered during the attacks.

Officials did not identify the group behind the attacks, but several Iran-backed militias over the past several years have repeatedly targeted American troops stationed in Iraq and neighboring Syria. Iran and its proxies are under an intense spotlight right now amid the unfolding Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Pentagon officials acknowledged that the incidents in Iraq came at a time of heightened tensions across the Middle East.

On Wednesday, “the U.S. military defended against three drones near U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq,” U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the region, said in a statement.

“In western Iraq, U.S. forces engaged two drones, destroying one and damaging the second, resulting in minor injuries to coalition forces. Separately in northern Iraq, U.S. forces engaged and destroyed a drone, resulting in no injuries or damage,” the statement said.

“In this moment of heightened alert, we are vigilantly monitoring the situation in Iraq and the region. U.S. forces will defend U.S. and coalition forces against any threat,” the CENTCOM statement said.

The statement did not explicitly say the injured troops were Americans. But the Reuters news agency, citing unnamed U.S. officials, reported Wednesday that U.S. service members were being evaluated for traumatic brain injuries.