TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — For those rallying on the corner of 56th and Fowler in Temple Terrace, silence wasn't an option.
Local Palestinians and supporters of different faiths and backgrounds held a demonstration once again in support of Palestine. As the Israeli military prepares for a ground invasion against Hamas, those at the rally expressed worry that Palestinian civilians in Gaza will further get caught in the crosshairs with thousands already killed in the last couple of weeks.
"Our message is one: We want to live in peace. We want freedom to eat. We want freedom to drink electricity, basic human needs. That's all we want," Mirna Abushanab, a Palestinian American and member of Resistance of Tampa Bay, said.
With Israel's years-long blockade of Gaza, those at the rally said they're desperate for more aid for the more than two million people inside. Signs were held reading "Free Palestine" and calling Israel's attacks acts of genocide.
Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food and drinking dirty water. Hospitals say they are running low on medical supplies and fuel for emergency generators amid a territory-wide power blackout. Five hospitals have stopped functioning because of fuel shortages and bombing damage, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said.
Those at the rally grieved the families killed in Israel's bombardments of Gaza following attacks from Hamas on Oct. 7. The U.S. State Department has designated Hamas a terrorist group, along with other Western countries.
The bloodshed cut deep for local Palestinian Isam Jaber. At 3 years old, he said he and his family were displaced like hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians in the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967.
Jaber said all civilians killed matter, including lives lost in Israel, but expressed concern about how Palestinian lives being killed are being represented, viewed and treated.
"It's 75 years of occupation, oppression and injustice to the Palestinian people. They have no rights. They are second-class citizens. Total apartheid by the Israelis," Jaber said.
The rally included people of different faiths and nations who also criticized U.S. support of Israel.
"It's a war crime. It's unconscionable," Tarek Ayoub, a local Egyptian American, said of the lives killed and at risk in Gaza, along with the current conditions.
Just Saturday, the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened to allow aid into the territory. However, only 20 trucks made it through compared to the hundreds that entered daily prior.
President Joe Biden stated in part, "The United States remains committed to ensuring that civilians in Gaza will continue to have access to food, water, medical care and other assistance, without diversion by Hamas."
With Israel planning to step up airstrikes on top of an expected ground incursion, concerns from those at the rally are mounting over more civilians killed.