About a hundred demonstrators converged on west Beirut's branch of the Starbucks coffee shop on Tuesday and closed it down in protest over the Israeli operation in Gaza.

Protesters justified their actions by claiming that the Starbucks corporation owner donates money to the Israeli military.

The protest in Beirut's commercial Hamra street is the latest of a series of demonstrations across the Arab world since Israel launched an attack on Gaza to stop Hamas rocket fire on Dec. 27.

Customers fled the Starbucks as the protesters descended on it, turned out the lights and blocked the doors.

Protesters then raised a Palestinian flag over the shop and wrote on its window "Jewish favorite coffee."