3 years later, Toledo groups reflect on lives lost and impacted by Israel-Hamas war

Members of the local Jewish community and Free Palestine groups said they want the human lives lost to remain in the public’s awareness.

TOLEDO, Ohio — EDITOR’S NOTE: WTOL 11 utilizes Associated Press reporting guidelines. The Associated Press refers to the war involving Israel and Palestinian territories as the Israel-Hamas war. 

Three years after the October attacks in Israel, community members on both sides of the conflict gathered to reflect on the lives lost in the Israel-Hamas war. 

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On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched an attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel responded by launching its war in Gaza, according to the Associated Press. 

At Congregation B’nai Israel in Sylvania, members of the Jewish community came together Wednesday for an evening of remembrance honoring those killed in Hamas’ attacks and the war that followed.

“It’s really a day of reflection and honoring the lives that were taken,” said Roy Buchler, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council. “We mainly want to remember and commemorate and honor their memories.”

The event included music, prayer and remarks from local rabbis. Attendees also heard from representatives of Or Shalom, an Israeli nonprofit organization that supports at-risk youth.

Buchler said the three-year commemoration also serves as a reminder that antisemitism remains a concern.

“The main message is that we must remember what happened on Oct. 7, 2023, and that hate cannot go unchecked,” Buchler said.

Across town in west Toledo, a protest organized by the Toledo chapter of American Muslims for Palestine advocated for an end to the violence from the Israel-Hamas war. 

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 74,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, more than 2 million residents have been displaced and much of the territory’s infrastructure has been damaged. Data from the ministry has been cited by the UN throughout the war. 

Walaa Kanan, a board member with the local American Muslims for Palestine organization, said the group wanted to highlight the human toll of the war in Gaza. 

“What we are protesting is a genocide that has been proven in international law to be a genocide against the Palestinian people,” Kanan said.

The International Court of Justice is considering allegations of genocide against Israel, according to the Associated Press. Israel has rejected those allegations. 

Protesters in west Toledo also voiced opposition to U.S. support for Israel’s military actions. Hamas’ military forces have been vastly diminished since the conflict ensued in 2023, according to the Associated Press. 

The United States provides Israel roughly $3.8 billion annually in military assistance, according to the Congressional Research Service. 

“We’re here to say again and again and again until we don’t need to anymore, that we don’t want our tax dollars funding this genocide,” Kanan said.

Members from both groups said that they don’t want the war and the effects it’s having to be forgotten by the public.