play videoplay video
Video duration 02 minutes 01 seconds 02:01
For the third day in a row, thousands of Jordanian demonstrators continued their protests in the vicinity of the Israeli embassy in the capital, Amman, to denounce the war on Gaza, and the police prevented the protesters from reaching the embassy.
The security forces prevented the demonstrators from reaching the Israeli embassy by imposing a dense security cordon at the entrances and exits leading to the embassy.
The demonstrators chanted slogans in support of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and its leaders, and their demands focused on stopping normalization with Israel and supporting the Palestinian resistance.
Reuters quoted eyewitnesses early on Wednesday as saying that Jordanian riot police beat and arrested dozens of demonstrators who tried to walk towards the heavily guarded Israeli embassy.
The agency said that the Jordanian authorities are concerned that the Israeli war on Gaza could increase the popularity of Hamas among Jordanians.
On the other hand, the authorities in Jordan say that peaceful protests are permitted “but they will not tolerate any attempt by those seeking to exploit anger against Israel to cause chaos or attempt to reach a border area with the occupied West Bank or Israel.”
Many protesters criticized the authorities' inaction, saying their compatriots in Gaza were left to face Israeli military force alone.
Jordan's peace treaty with Israel is not very popular among many citizens who consider normalization a betrayal of the rights of their Palestinian citizens.
Last month, Amnesty International called on the Jordanian authorities to end what it said was a widespread campaign of repression that saw hundreds of people arrested for expressing their support for the Palestinians in Gaza or criticizing the Jordanian government's policies towards Israel.
Source: Al Jazeera + agencies