Massive Jordan rally demands termination of peace treaty with Israel

Thousands of Jordanians have rallied near the Israeli embassy in a fifth day of massive protests against Israel, calling for an end to Jordan's unpopular peace treaty with its Zionist neighbour to the west.

The protesters on Thursday in the affluent Rabieh neighbourhood of Amman carried Palestinian flags and chanted: "They said Hamas is terrorist. All of Jordan is Hamas."

"No Zionist embassy on Jordanian land," protesters also cried, demanding that authorities close the embassy and end a 1994 peace treaty that normalised ties with Israel.

Placards declared "Amman-Gaza one destiny", while other posters depicted Hamas' masked military spokesman, Abu Obaida, who has become a folk hero for many in the Arab world.

The Israeli embassy, where protesters have gathered for five straight days, has long been a flashpoint when violence has escalated between Palestinians and Israel.

Defied police orders

Heavy security on Thursday was aimed at curbing the number of protesters, and the rally went peacefully, unlike earlier this week when riot police fired tear gas and struck protesters with batons to prevent them from storming the embassy.

Hundreds of demonstrators, however, defied police orders to disperse and sat on the streets saying they would remain until the early hours of Friday morning.

Authorities in Jordan have stepped up arrests of demonstrators in a months-long campaign that has been slammed by international rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for restricting freedom of expression.

Passions have run high among Jordanians, many of whom are of Palestinian origin, over Israel's relentless Gaza bombing campaign against besieged Palestinians that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and flattened large parts of the densely populated enclave.

Jordan has seen some of the biggest outpourings of public anger in the region since the war.

Jordan's peace treaty with Israel is widely unpopular among many citizens who see normalisation as betraying the rights of their Palestinian compatriots.