The Israeli military announced that ground forces will expand their operations in Gaza this evening, with Hamas saying it is “ready” if Israel launches a ground offensive.

Thousands of people demonstrated in the West Bank and several Arab countries on Friday to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. “Free Gaza!” »A journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted that hundreds of Palestinians marched through the streets of Ramallah in the West Bank, waving the flags of Hamas and other Palestinian movements.

At least 5,000 people protested in Amman, Jordan, demanding the cancellation of the peace accord between Jordan and Israel and condemning Israeli bombings against the Gaza Strip. The demonstration began in front of the large Husseini Mosque in the center of the Jordanian capital, in the presence of a large police force, AFP journalists noted.

“No Wadi Araba Agreement”A banner reads the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty signed in 1994. “Wadi Araba is not peace, Wadi Araba is surrender”, chanted the demonstrators, many of whom wore the Palestinian keffiyeh on their heads or shoulders. Some also condemned doubts about the death toll broadcast by Hamas. About 2,000 people took part in the demonstration in Zarqa, located twenty kilometers from Amman, and hundreds more in Mafraq, Tafileh and Aqaba.

In Lebanon, demonstrations took place in several cities after Friday prayers, notably in the capital Beirut, which saw supporters of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah march, and in the country’s second city, Tripoli. In Yemen, a massive demonstration has been organized in Sana’a, the Houthi rebel-held capital near Iran. Thousands of protesters gathered after prayers, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Death to America, Death to Israel”.

In Iraq, a demonstration gathered around a hundred people in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. The same thing happened in Libya, in Tripoli, where demonstrators took over Martyrs Square, a broad esplanade in the center of the Libyan capital. AFP images show some waving a Palestinian flag and children trampling an Israeli flag.