'It's just devastating': Suburban residents react to Israel-Gaza conflict
From thousands of miles away, Chicago-area Jewish and Palestinian community leaders expressed a mix of anger, grief and defiance after Hamas fighters launched a multipronged attack on Israel, and Israeli forces retaliated with airstrikes in Gaza Saturday.
The eruption of violence and bloodshed left suburban families worried for their loved ones in the region and untangling the complexities behind decades of conflict.
Members of Illinois' congressional delegation were quick to condemn the surprise attacks by Hamas during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. And, Palestinian rights groups plan to rally outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago Sunday afternoon to draw attention to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Rabbi Andrew Bossov of Congregation Am Echod in Grayslake struggled to make sense of the latest escalation. He questioned what would be accomplished from the attacks against Israel and its military prowess. Israel, he said, "isn't going anywhere." Israeli officials reported at least 200 people had died and an additional 1,100 were wounded.
"It's just devastating," Bossov said, describing Israel's "very closely knit society."
"I'm sure my friends in Israel would know one of those 200 people," he added.
Deanna Othman described the Hamas offensive as the outcome of "years of land dispossession and violence and theft of property."
At least 232 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed and at least 1,700 wounded in Israeli strikes, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.
Othman, who lives in Oak Lawn, visited her in-laws in Gaza this past summer. People had electricity only four to six hours a day. She couldn't visit her own family in the West Bank - uncles, aunts and cousins - because of the restriction of movement.
"The situation that they're in is just simply unbearable. Their travel is completely limited," Othman said. "They're not able to exit their borders. The only way that they can leave is either through Egypt, which requires extensive approval, or if they need to leave for something like medical treatment through the areas crossing into Israel."
The news Saturday was difficult to process from so far away.
"It's frightening. It's worrisome. It's anxiety inducing," Othman said. "Your heart's kind of like in your throat. You don't know what's going to happen from one minute to the next."
The attacks by Hamas were the deadliest in Israel in decades. Bossov said it would only provoke more anger and lamented "there still isn't an end in sight" after years of hostilities.
"When I participate in a prayer for peace, I mean it," he said.
In a statement, U.S. Sen Tammy Duckworth, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, denounced the "horrific, unconscionable and ongoing coordinated Hamas attacks and kidnappings."
"The United States stands in solidarity and strength with our ally Israel - with our families and friends - as they are attacked by Hamas," U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, a Jewish Democratic lawmaker, said in a statement.
"Hamas has started a war with terrorist attacks targeting civilian communities with rockets and infiltrations, as well as reportedly taking prisoners into Gaza. We send our condolences to the families of those killed, our prayers to the hundreds wounded," his statement read.
The U.S. Palestinian Community Network, a group that planned to protest outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago Sunday, said the operations come after "months of unrelenting Israeli settler violence" and repeated invasions of Palestinian refugee camps across the West Bank. Hatem Abudayyeh, the network's national chair, said the Palestinian people are "defending themselves."
"What other choice is there except to raise your own arms and fight for your own self-defense and fight for your own liberation?" he said. "And that's exactly what's happening and the Palestinians have the right to do that."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.