Middle East

Clashes break out in front of US embassy in Lebanon over Jerusalem protest

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Lebanese security forces use a water hose to disperse protesters during a demonstration outside the US embassy in Awkar, on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut (AFP)

Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water cannons on Sunday at demonstrators near the US embassy as they protested against Washington's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

An AFP correspondent in Awkar outside the capital Beirut said several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered near the US embassy, located in the area.

They were blocked from reaching the complex by a metal gate sealing the road leading to the embassy, and security forces fired tear gas and water cannons to repel demonstrators who tried to open the gate by force.

Middle East Eye reported from the scene:

Protesters, some of them waving Palestinian flags, set fires in the street and threw projectiles towards security forces who had barricaded the main road to the US Embassy.

Some demonstrators attempted to remove a roadblock protecting the embassy in an attempt to break in.

Addressing the protesters, the head of the Lebanese Communist Party Hanna Gharib declared the United States "the enemy of Palestine" and the US Embassy "a symbol of imperialist aggression" that must be closed.

Protesters burned US and Israeli flags. Several people were injured by rocks and tear gas, the correspondent said.

There was no immediate comment from security forces.

Protesters chanted slogans against President Donald Trump, who on Wednesday recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

A group of demonstrators set alight an effigy of the US president, whose decision has upended decades of American diplomacy and an international consensus to leave the status of Jerusalem to be resolved in negotiations.

The demonstrators included members of Palestinian parties as well as Lebanese Islamists and leftists.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, including those who fled or were expelled from their homes after Israel's founding, as well as their descendants.

Lebanese security forces fire tear gas to disperse protestors as a fire burns in a dumpster during a demonstration outside the US embassy in Awkar, on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut (AFP)

Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years before withdrawing in 2000. The two countries remain technically at war.

In 2006, Israel fought a devastating war against Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 120 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

Hezbollah on Thursday said it backed calls for a new Palestinian uprising against Israel in response to the US decision.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also called for a protest against the decision in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday.

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