BALTIMORE — Chanting, "We will free Palestine within our lifetime," a large group of protesters took to Baltimore City Hall following the resumption of the war in Gaza.
Early Tuesday, Israel dropped a round of airstrikes on Gaza, effectively ending ceasefire talks and killing more than 400 people, according to Gaza health officials.
VIDEO: Dozens of people protest Israel ending ceasefire
Israeli government officials are saying the attack came after Hamas refused to release all hostages.
Protesters like Jake Ecker called it a grave day.
"We've been seeing a live stream genocide for over seventeen months now and even for years before that continued violence against the people of Palestine as they struggle for the right to return to their homes," Ecker said.
He says they're also protesting local and state involvement in the war.
"Baltimore, through our federal taxes, sends almost $9 million every year to Israel. The state of Maryland sends almost $80 million a year, and I'm a teacher, and that money would be much better spent on our schools."
The ceasefire agreement reached in January was made up of phases.
Phase one saw the release of a number of hostages from each side.
However, phase two brought out many disagreements.
Hamas wanted to move forward with the agreement, which included Israeli troops pulling out of Gaza.
But Israel pushed for Hamas to release all hostages without committing to leaving the region.
The situation puts Ecker in a particular spot, as he is also a part of the Jewish community.
"To me, we think about Israel held up as something that keeps Jewish people safe, but the bombs that drop on Palestine don't make me, a Jew, any safer here in Baltimore or even in Israel."
But Howard Libbit, Executive Director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, sees it a different way.
"As much as we hate seeing the violence resume, I'm not sure what other choice Israel had to try and push Hamas to come back to the bargaining table and move forward with continuing to release hostages in exchange for some concession Israel would be willing to make," Libbit said.
He acknowledged the thousands of people Israel has killed in the war, both Hamas and civilians.
"We need to move past that. We need to release all the hostages and move to a phase where others are stepping in and running Gaza in a way that is not threatening to Israel."
At the time of this publication, there's no word of Hamas retaliating.
The White House said it was consulted before Tuesday's attacks and supports Israel's decision.
