Rally at Georgia Capitol calls for humanitarian cease as Israeli-Palestinian war continues
ATLANTA - Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the busy southwest Atlanta streets Saturday calling for an end to the violence in the Gaza Strip.
This comes as Israel seems determined to expand the scope of the war.
Marchers carried Palestinian flags, pro-Palestinian signs, and chanted in unison.
FOX 5 also observed one demonstrator holding a sign that read "Jews Against Genocide."
ISRAEL EXPANDS GAZA GROUND OPERATION AS WAR ENTERS 'NEXT STAGE'
They marched to the State Capitol where they gathered and rallied for the killing to stop in the Gaza Strip.
FOX 5 met Fatima Shabib outside the Capitol, who brought her seven children with her to the march.
"[Palestinians] are suffering so much: no food, no electricity, no internet and no way to know what’s happening over there," Shabib said, who is from Nablus in the West Bank.
She says her heart aches when she hears about the victims, especially the children there.
"Almost 8,000 killed, most of them kids, babies. What did they do? They did nothing," she said.
Around 7,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to figures released Saturday.
Shabib worries that number will explode now that Israel has moved troops and tanks into northern Gaza.
"I think everybody knows that this would only escalate the situation and make it a lot worse," said Kareem Rosshandler about the Israeli ground invasion.
He held a banner with his family at the rally that read "ATL supports Free Palestine."
Rosshandler, who has lived in Atlanta since 1993, says the U.S. needs to stop supporting Israel’s expanding war.
"They’re human beings. They’re men, they’re women, they’re children, they’re families. And they’re being massacred… the most important thing right now would be a humanitarian cease fire. That’s the most important thing," he said.
Marchers here repeatedly called for the U.S. to end its military support for Israel while they continue to rack up Palestinian civilian casualties.
Some even said they’re planning to march in Washington D.C. soon to bring their message directly to U.S. leaders.