SUNRISE, Fla. — Israel’s move toward a takeover of Gaza City has been met with sharp condemnation from many countries.
And the families of Israeli hostages worry the move puts their loved ones in greater danger.
On Friday afternoon, Gaza advocates demonstrated outside Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s Sunrise office, urging her to vote to end U.S. funding for Israel.
With pots and pans, about three dozen advocates called for Wasserman Schultz and other lawmakers to take action to help those suffering in Gaza.
“My cousin was only 22 years old, (he) was killed two days ago,” protester Lubna Hamad said. “He saw his siblings hungry, he saw his parents hungry and needed medication, needed food.”
Dozens chanted outside Wasserman Schultz’s front door, telling her it’s time to denounce Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“My own family is being killed in Gaza with my own tax money,” Hamad said. “So I’m here to demand my representatives, as they are responsible for distributing and using our tax money to here locally.”
This comes as a video from social media showed a plume of smoke over Gaza City on Friday, just hours after Israel’s security cabinet signed off on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take over the enclave.
In response, Germany halted weapons exports to Israel and Egypt and Turkey called the country’s acts genocide.
Australian officials warned the move will worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe.
Social media video showed a balcony collapsing on Friday after Palestinians rushed to reach airdropped aid.
Vice President JD Vance, while in the United Kingdom on Friday -- said the U.S. doesn’t intend to recognize a Palestinian state like the U.K., France and Canada will do soon.
But he said President Donald Trump has other clear goals.
“We want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent people,” Vance said. “We want to solve the humanitarian problems in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, families of Israeli hostages held since the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, worry about what’s next.
“The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the hunger that is going on there, the suffering of my family, as well as 49 other families, we need to put an end to it,” Ruby Chen, the father of hostage Itay Chen, said.
Back in Sunrise, protesters said they won’t stop until their voices are heard.
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