Hundreds gather in New York for Jewish Hanukkah vigil, call for cease-fire in Gaza

On Hanukkah's first night, the Jewish festival of lights, hundreds of Jewish people gathered at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York, Thursday night to light candles and urge a cease-fire in Gaza. Clad in winter coats, the participants commemorated the lives lost in the Israel-Hamas war. Holding menorahs around a lit cease-fire sign, they expressed grief for those affected since the Oct. 7 attacks. Audrey Sasson, the executive director of 'Jews For Racial & Economic Justice,' one of the organizers of the event, said: 'This just feels like a very powerful opportunity for us to continue to be very, very loud and clear that we see no military solution to this conflict,' according to The New York Times. One of the participants, Ben Sullivan, 28, expressed distress at his Jewish identity being exploited for harm, stating: 'It makes me really upset, but it gives me a lot of hope to see so many other Jewish people who feel the same way.' Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour and American actor Wallace Shawn also attended the event. Israel resumed its military offensive against the Gaza Strip on Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group, Hamas. At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas. The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.