BEIRUT — Crowds of thousands swept into the streets of cities around the Middle East on Sunday to denounce Israel’s air assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. From Lebanon to Iran, from Cairo to Istanbul, Turkey, Israel’s adversaries used the weekend assault to marshal crowds into the streets for demonstrations.
Several of Sunday’s protests turned violent. In Lebanon, police fired tear gas to stop dozens of demonstrators from reaching the Egyptian Embassy. Some in the crowd hurled stones at the embassy compound. In Damascus, Syria, more than 5,000 marched toward the central Youssef al-Azmeh square, where they burned Israeli and American flags.
In Amman, Jordan, about 5,000 lawyers marched, demanding the Israeli ambassador’s expulsion and the closure of the embassy. And in the normally politically placid streets of glitzy Dubai and Kuwait, hundreds of demonstrators protested.
