LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Three billboards condemning Hamas were vandalized in Louisville.
The billboards were erected by JewBelong, a national nonprofit that fights antisemitism. Two of the billboards were torn down, but the third billboard near Interstate 65 and Arthur Street by the University of Louisville's Belknap campus was defaced with "Free Palestine" graffiti.
"The fact that it happened is evidence that we need to keep going, because it's such a clear show of hate, and we can't back down from that," Stacy Stuart, a co-founder of JewBelong said.
The other two billboards are at I-65 and Eastern Parkway and I-264 and Louisville Avenue. The billboards read "Let's be clear: Hamas is your problem too."
"JewBelong believes in the goal of peace for Palestinian and Israeli people and recognizes the fact that Hamas is standing in the way of that peace," JewBelong said in a news release.
Fighting erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack in southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people in Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and a ground offensive that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, shuttered operations in more than half of Gaza's hospitals and caused widespread hunger, U.N. monitors said.
The Palestinian death toll from the war between Israel and Hamas has soared past 25,000, the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Sunday, while the Israeli government appeared far from achieving its goals of crushing the militant group and freeing more than 100 hostages.
The level of death, destruction and displacement from the war is without precedent in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli officials said the fighting is likely to continue for several more months.
The Jewish Federation of Louisville said in a statement: "We have not worked with the organization that brought these messages forward, but their efforts to remind us that Hamas is a terrorist organization are important. Hamas murdered, raped, tortured and kidnapped people - mostly unarmed civilians - ranging in age from infants to senior citizens. They still hold hostages today. The fact that a sign condemning terrorism was defaced is especially alarming."
Related Stories:
- As Israel-Hamas war reaches 100-day mark, here's the conflict by numbers
- Families of hostages held in Gaza storm Israel's parliament meeting demanding deal for release
- Gaza Health Ministry says Palestinian death toll from Israel-Hamas war has passed 25,000
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All Rights Reserved.
