CLEVELAND — Five days after the terrorist attacks on Israel, members of the Jewish community across Northeast Ohio and Israel continue to reflect on what's transpired.
"It's as if the whole country is holding it's breath," said Rabbi Rick Block, who spoke to 3News over Zoom from Jerusalem Wednesday night. "It's a very tense situation."
NBC News reports at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel. Hundreds more are dead in the Gaza Strip as the military attempts to launch its response against Hamas.
"There's a heaviness in our hearts for what happened to our brothers and our sisters in our homeland," said Hallie Abrams, 3News' style contributor. "It's truly tragic."
Abrams, who has lived in Israel and has friends and family in the Middle East, has shared messages on Instagram over the last five days regarding the war in Israel. On Wednesday, she told WKYC a family friend was one of the 260 people killed at a music festival.
"It's the darkest day," she stated.
Her cousin's family was also impacted by the terrorist attack.
"One brother had been murdered and the mother and other brother are still missing," she shared. "They're under the assumption that they were kidnapped to Gaza."
"The pain and grief is growing with every passing hour," Block added.
Block served as a rabbi in Northeast Ohio before moving to Israel. He tells 3News he and others have had to seek shelter multiple times because of terrorist rockets.
"It's the most vicious and murderous attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust," he said.