Protesters gather in Providence in support of Israel

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Members of the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel gathered on Orms Street in Providence on Wednesday in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his calls for United States support in the war in Gaza.

“There’s not enough we can do,” Barbara Kenerson, a member of the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel, said. “They are a sliver of a country surrounded by people that want them dead and gone.”

Some passersby expressed frustration with the group’s calls to continue the battle, with one passenger shouting about the killing of innocent Palestinian children.

The pro-Israeli protesters called on Hamas to make the first step towards peace.

“We’re looking for the end of the war too,” Ken Schneider of the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel said. “But Hamas could have ended the war the day after it started. They’ve decided not to do that because they couldn’t care less about the people in Gaza.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Washington, D.C. earlier on Wednesday, with the division between the two sides more apparent than ever.

“No one wants to see innocent lives perish,” Mark Johnson, a member of the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel, said. “But on October 7, how many innocent lives perished? This is our due, the job needs to be finished.”