CHICAGO — Thousands of protesters from the Palestinian American community called an emergency protest in Chicago after Tuesday’s hospital explosion in Gaza.

Just after 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of downtown Chicago after meeting at Federal Plaza and began walking towards the Israeli Consulate.

The organizers of the rally said they don’t believe Israel when it says it didn’t strike the hospital, even though the current U.S. intelligence assessment is that Israel was not responsible.

Israel claims the Islamic Jihad militant group misfired a rocket within Gaza and caused the blast that killed hundreds of innocent people.

Roughly 2,800 Palestinians have been reported killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza. An additional 1,200 people are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. Those numbers predate the explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.

Many protesters told WGN-TV that they have family in Gaza and the West Bank and are outraged by the loss of civilian life and are worried about their families.

SkyCam9 was over the scene when protesters began shooting fireworks in front of the Israeli Consulate in Chicago.

Stay with WGN-TV as this story develops.