LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Protesters gathered in downtown Louisville to denounce the ongoing war in Gaza.
The death toll inside Gaza is nearing 40,000. At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly 10 months since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel triggered their latest war. That's according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel has accused Hamas of embedding in the civilian population and putting it at risk.
"Every passing day when more bombs are dropped and more people are shot, when more buildings are flattened we truly feel, I truly feel I have a hand in that and therefore my responsibility only becomes more and more desperate as time goes on because every day people are dying," demonstrator Jack Fonseca said.
Most of Gaza's population of about 2.3 million is displaced, many people multiple times, as Israel's military returns to areas where it says Hamas militants have regrouped. Health services and sanitation have largely collapsed across the territory as hunger grows.
Some 3,200 people were arrested this spring during a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments protesting the war in Gaza. While some colleges ended demonstrations by striking deals with the students, or simply waited them out, others called in police when protesters refused to leave.
Tensions have run high on college campuses since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants assaulted southern Israel and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Two Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel's army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation.
Cease-fire discussions on Gaza continued, with an Israeli delegation led by the Mossad chief arriving in Cairo, an Egyptian official said. The U.S. has urged Israel to seize the chance for a cease-fire after the shock killing of Hamas' political leader in Iran, which Tehran blames on Israel.
That killing and Israel's assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon have the region holding its breath for retaliation against Israel on either front, or both, after Iran and its proxies vowed to act. Calls for people to leave Lebanon sharpened as flight activity there cooled.
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the chance for a cease-fire with Hamas, adding that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities.
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