(NewsNation) — Hundreds of demonstrators clashed with Lebanese security forces outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday, hurling stones and setting a building on fire.
The protests, which continued Wednesday, erupted just hours after Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group called for a “day of rage” following what it said was Israel’s deadly attack on a Gaza hospital.
Israel’s military has denied responsibility for the bombing and blamed the incident on a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants. On Wednesday, the White House said the current intelligence assessment shows Israel was “not responsible.”
The blast, which killed 500 people according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, sparked outrage across the Middle East.
Photos from Lebanon show hundreds of protestors, some waving Palestinian flags, gathered near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
Demonstrators took down a security wall and cut a barbed wire barrier on a road that leads to the embassy, which is located in a Beirut suburb.
Riot police used tear gas and water cannons to push back others who were throwing stones.
Several images show a building belonging to Lebanese authorities engulfed in flames.
The U.S. State Department is urging U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon and says those who are there should leave due to the “unpredictable security situation.”
On Tuesday, the State Department raised the travel advisory level for the country to “Level 4: Do Not Travel,” citing “terrorism,” “civil unrest” and “armed conflict.”
Arash Aramesh, a national security and foreign policy analyst, said any attacks against the U.S. embassy should be viewed as “tantamount to attacking America.”
If that happens, Aramesh said responsibility would lie directly with Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.
“The most powerful force in Lebanon is not the police, it’s not the Labense military, it’s Hezbollah,” he said. “Anything happens to the U.S. Embassy, it’s on Hezbollah.”
The terror group said the United States “bears direct and complete responsibility” for the recent blast at the hospital in Gaza, Reuters reported.
This week’s demonstrations in Lebanon are just the latest flare-up in a country that has a long history of attacks against Americans.
Just last month, a food delivery driver opened fire outside the U.S. Embassy. No one was hit.
Earlier this year marked the 40th anniversary of a deadly bombing attack on the U.S. embassy in Beirut which killed 63 people. A second bombing there just over a year later killed 11.