BEIRUT — Protests spread in Lebanon on Wednesday outside major Western embassies, including those of the United States and France, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and in observation of Hezbollah's "day of rage." 

The US Embassy in Lebanon warned US citizens against approaching the area. "US citizens in Beirut should avoid the Awkar area on October 18 given the potential for further demonstrations following protests on October 17," it wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, adding that the embassy remains open for business. 

The embassy area in the town of Awkar, north of the capital Beirut, witnessed a tense night of protests that erupted hours after a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital, killing hundreds of people.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of angry protesters waving Palestinian flags headed toward the US Embassy in Beirut and attempted to remove the barbed wire barricades erected by the Lebanese army and police on the roads leading to the embassy, according to the official National News Agency.