Long Islanders mark 100-day point in Israel-Hamas war with walk, donations

Long Islanders marked a grim milestone on Sunday — the 100-day mark of the war between Israel and Hamas that has left tens of thousands of people dead or injured and 132 still held hostage.

More than 200 people walked to a Jewish center in Plainview to keep attention on the hostages, while an interfaith ceremony was held at an Islamic Center in Westbury to honor the memories of children killed in Gaza during the war.

Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel and Israel’s military response, 23,843 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, more than 1,200 killed in Israel and 347 Palestinians killed in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli officials.

“We have been walking in the rain, we have been walking in the wind, we have been walking in all kinds of weather,” said Shira Weiss, of Syosset, who has been leading the 1½-mile walks from Country Pointe Plainview to the Mid-Island Y JCC every Sunday for 12 weeks. “We haven’t stopped because [the hostages] can’t walk. They don’t have that choice.”

The walks are part of national and global walk/run events called “Run for their Lives.”

One of the participants on Sunday was Daniel Neutra, of Plainview, whose brother Omer, who is 22 and a member of the Israeli army, is being held hostage in Gaza. 

“Since then my family’s lives have been turned upside down,” Neutra told the crowd, many of whom were wearing T-shirts imprinted with his brother’s photo or carrying signs with photos of the American hostages. “We won’t be able to rest until this is over.”

Neutra thanked the crowd and lamented the lack of progress in hostage negotiations. 

At the Islamic Center of Long Island, stacks of shoeboxes were piled several feet high; tiny toddler sandals and brightly colored sneakers were balanced on top.

The Westbury center has collected 500 pairs of new shoes, which will be donated to needy children of all ethnicities and religions in New York City, mainly in Queens and the Bronx.

The mufti of the center’s mosque, Mohammad Farhan, said the donation was “a gesture inspired by the memories of innocent children who lost their lives in Gaza” in the past three months, and “a testament to our commitment to building a society founded on compassion, justice and love.”

Placards placed at the ceremony pointed out that more than 85% of the population of Gaza, half of whose population is under 18 years old, has been displaced.

Farhan said he hoped the ceremony would be an opportunity to “reflect on the collective responsibility we share to create a world where every child can grow up in peace and security.”

  With AP