CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The number of those dead continued to rise in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, amid calls for a ceasefire increase.
The U.S. has also joined those calls to allow humanitarian aid to get to those innocents trapped in the rubble of the destruction.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will now allow a ceasefire to happen, even as the U.S. House votes to approve $14.5 billion in aid to Israel.
Close to 10,000 Palestinians have died, which includes roughly 6,500 women and children.
There have been more than 1,400 Israelis who have been killed and more than 200 who remain hostages to Hamas.
Jewish communities and those who support Israel have held rallies in Charlotte for the past several weeks with a message of peace and the release of those hostages.
Dan Gelles joined more than a hundred supporters at Sunday afternoon’s rally in Marshall Park.
He stressed that the war has caused tough conversations but that “when Israel is under attack, the Jewish people are under attack, and the world needs to know that.”
Supporters held the images of just a handful of those kidnapped families who have not been free since the October 7th attack by Hamas.
Sunday’s rally came on the heels of two “Free Palestine” rallies, which focused on calls for a ceasefire.
One was held in Uptown Friday afternoon, while a second was held inside SouthPark Mall Saturday.
“We all bleed, and we all hurt,” one Israel supporter told Queen City News Sunday afternoon.
He said, “Unfortunately, there is a terrorist organization that is attacking the state of Israel, and the state of Israel has to stand up for itself.”
Some in attendance said they had family members who had answered the call to serve on the front lines.
Others said that once they have their health issues remedied, they will join their brothers and sisters in arms.
