DUBAI - A Gaza hospital strike that killed at least 200 people has unleashed a torrent of condemnation across the Arab world, with even allies blaming Israel for the attack, despite its denials.
The denunciations coincided with angry rallies in Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Iran and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with more planned on Wednesday following calls for a "day of rage" across the region.
Israel and Palestinian militants have traded blame for the hospital strike on Tuesday night, with the Israeli army saying on Wednesday it had "evidence" that militants were responsible.
But the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which both established ties with Israel in the Abraham Accords of 2020, condemned the "Israeli" attack which came as Israel lays siege to Gaza.
"The United Arab Emirates strongly condemns the Israeli attack... resulting in the death and injury of hundreds of people," the UAE's official WAM news agency said early on Wednesday.
Bahrain's foreign ministry "expressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s condemnation and strong denunciation of the Israeli bombing", the Bahrain News Agency said.
Morocco, another country that recognised Israel in 2020, also blamed it for the strike, as did Egypt, which became the first Arab country to normalise relations in 1979.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned in the strongest terms "the Israeli bombing" of the Ahli Arab hospital, which led to "the deaths of hundreds of innocent victims" among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.
He called the "deliberate bombing" a "clear violation of international law".
Saudi Arabia, which has ended talks on potential ties with Israel since the Israel-Hamas war flared, called the blast a "heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces".