NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Just days after a ceasefire ended between Israel and Hamas, fighting has resumed in the Middle East, with Israel widening their ground offensive into Southern Gaza.
Pro-Palestine supporters rallied through the streets Monday, demanding an end to what they said is a genocide.
The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas ended on Friday, and now protestors are calling for a permanent ceasefire. Supporters of Palestine marched over the Williamsburg Bridge, making their way through the Lower East Side, vowing to show up larger in number as they made their voices heard.
"There's a genocide happening in Palestine, and Palestine is an occupied territory, and the people there have no human rights," said demonstrator Mateo Cartagena.
This comes as Israel's military is calling for more evacuations in Southern Gaza as it aims to eliminate the territory's Hamas rulers. Thousands have been killed on both sides of the conflict since the war broke out nearly two months ago, and millions more displaced, millions more displaced.
"Israel has killed more people in the space of a month than Vladimir Putin has killed in two years in Ukraine,” demonstrator Jordan Lang said. “They do not regard civilians in Gaza as innocent, period."
Their calls echoed the urgent need for permanent diplomatic solutions just three days after that temporary truce ended.
"I think that means the ceasefire was moot,” Cartagena said. “There's no pause in a genocide if they're just going to continue to do the same thing afterward."
Hope for another ceasefire faded, however, after Israel called its negotiators home over the weekend. Members of the Jewish community, including Moshe Romand, came out to the protest, praying for peace in the longstanding conflict and an end to the violence that has gripped the region.
"For thousands of years, we used to live together in peace, and we pray for the time that we can go to live together with that," said Romand.
The United States, along with Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the earlier ceasefire, say they are working on a longer truce between Israel and Hamas.
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