San Diego residents hold pro-Israel rally, call for peace

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Nearly 2,000 people came together in front of the San Diego County Building Sunday to stand in unity with Israel, and to call for an end to terror.

This comes three weeks after the October 7 attacks, where Hamas militants breached a security fence and indiscriminately began gunning down some civilians and taking others hostage.

Isaac Abadi was in Israel that day during the initial attack with his wife and four kids. A traumatic experience he says they will never forget.

"We were so scared for our lives, like that the terrorist could come in to our house and taken any of our kids so it was something very, very frightening, we didn't know how it could have stopped, we didn't know how it was coming, where it was coming from and what was going to happen next."

Isaac Abadi, attendee

"Love is always stronger than hate"

On Sunday, Abadi and his family showed up to the rally to stand in solidarity with the Israeli community he says is still hurting. A sentiment echoed by other attendees, like Yanine Simpser.

"We are sad. We are devastated. We are angry. We are frustrated...We are hopeful that this ends soon, and that we all can stand against terrorism," Simpser expressed.

County officials, different faith leaders, and other community members were also in attendance.

"We are in a situation where we need to make sure that every community, particularly Palestinians and Israelis are able to have basic human rights and are treated well," said Nora Vargas, Chairwoman for San Diego County.

"This is the healing that we all needed right now in this moment," said Stephanie Nisan, board member of StandWithUs.

"At the end of the day, love is always stronger than hate," Abadi shared.