London, Oct 13 (IANS): The Jordanian riot police on Friday forcibly dispersed hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to reach a border zone with the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Daily Mail reported.

Thousands held anti-Israel demonstrations across the country. Jordan was worried a regional widening of violence arising from the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could have repercussions for itself given that a large percentage of its population are Palestinians, Daily Mail reported.

Jordan lost the West Bank including East Jerusalem to Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinian territory was seeing a rise in violence between Palestinians and the Israeli military and settlers even before the Gaza conflict erupted.

Witnesses today said police fired tear gas to halt about 500 demonstrators who had reached a highway security checkpoint outside the capital Amman, Daily Mail reported. The highway leads to a main border crossing into the West Bank.

The interior ministry had issued a ban against holding anti-Israel marches in the sensitive border area, but said other licensed protests would be allowed.

The outpouring of Arab anger against Israel over its siege and bombardment of Gaza retaliating for a devastating cross-border Hamas attack also fuelled a large rally on Friday in downtown Amman, Daily Mail reported.