Florida elected officials stand with Israel at Aventura rally as war death toll rises

Florida elected officials on Monday evening joined hundreds rallying in support of Israel in Aventura two days after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack against the country.

Lt. Governor Jeanette Nuñez, U.S. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, Aventura Mayor Howard Weinberg and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Micky Steinberg all spoke to the large crowd waving Israeli flags at Waterways Shoppes, 3575 NE 207th St.

The event included a rabbi-led prayer for the Israel Defense Forces, during which the crowd was asked to raise candles or lit-up cellphones and say the names of IDF soldiers who will be fighting in the war.

READ MORE: Supporters of Israel and Palestinians hold opposing protests in Fort Lauderdale

Recent events in Israel are shattering Jewish communities all over the world, including in Florida, said Wilson, who represents parts of Miami-Dade and south Broward counties.

She reflected on a story her father told her about a Jewish man who loaned him money during segregation, when banks weren’t giving out loans to Black people. Thanks to that man, she said, her family became one of the first Black homeowners in Liberty City.

“This is not a distant conflict,” Wilson told the crowd.

In her speech, Nuñez said that Gov. Ron DeSantis will use every state resource available to support Israel. She also touted the governor’s pro-Israel policies, such as the state’s fight against Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, a Palestinian-led movement.

“We will not stand by and watch this occur,” Nuñez said.

Jeffrey Daniels, a 66-year-old Aventura resident and son of a Holocaust survivor, told the Miami Herald he attended the rally to let the Israeli people know they have American support.

“It’s an incredible sad situation,” he said. “It brings back awful memories.”

Leila Stricker, 33, said she feels hopeless as her father, brother and cousins live in Israel.

“This is very real to me,” she said. “We are all brothers and sisters no matter where we live in the world.”

War death toll rises

The assault from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian exclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, has killed over 900 people since Saturday, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades, local officials have said. According to Palestinian authorities, Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 560 in Gaza, where Hamas has governed since 2007.

Among those killed are 250 people whose bodies were found at a music festival near the Gaza border in Israel, 11 United States citizens and at least 33 Palestinian children in Gaza, authorities said. Thousands more have been injured and at least 100 civilians and soldiers have been taken hostage by Hamas, Israeli officials said. As of Sunday, over 120,000 Palestinians had been displaced in Gaza, the United Nations reported.

Hours before the Aventura rally and a day after Israel declared war, Israel Katz, the country’s minister of energy, said the water supply from Israel to Gaza would be immediately cut off — adding that electricity and fuel services were discontinued Sunday.

The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization. The tension between Palestinians and Israelis has increased in recent years as Israeli settlers push further into Palestinian areas.