On Monday, Arizonans gathered at the State Capitol to honor the dead in the war between Israel and Hamas, and demand a halt to the killing.

Liz Hourican, one of the protest organizers, said the event was intended to call on Congress and policymakers to support a ceasefire, enable greater humanitarian access to Gaza and stop the use of American tax dollars for Israel to buy weapons that have killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, including over 4,500 children.

Hourican said it's time to question what she calls the United States' "blind support of Israel."

"The 'security state' that we the taxpayer have long been paying for - and they have a special exemption, with regards to weapons and military funding, etc," she said. "We have to take a look at this, that we are all with blood on our hands as taxpayers."

The Biden administration supports a humanitarian pause in the conflict, but has not yet called for a ceasefire. Some lawmakers in Congress have sponsored efforts to put an end to hostilities in the region and send humanitarian aid to Gaza, but these have gained little traction. This comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk last week accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes.

Hourican argued it is unacceptable to think the four-hour daily "humanitarian pauses" Israel recently agreed to in northern Gaza are enough. The protesters said hospitals as well as places of worship shouldn't be caught in the cross-hairs of the conflict. Hourican added they don't think Congress should be funding efforts that put innocent lives in harm's way.

"We cannot pay for an outpost in the Middle East to harm Palestinians. They deserve respect and human rights. One word sums it up - 'equality' - but 'ceasefire' today," she said.

Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have increased across the U.S. since the war erupted. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy organization, received nearly 1,300 requests for help and reports of bias between early October and early November. In an average month last year, the group saw just over 400 complaints.

California supporters of the Palestinian cause say they are cautiously optimistic - now that the ceasefire in Gaza has taken hold and the hostage releases have begun.

More aid trucks are arriving in Gaza and families are starting to make their way back to survey the almost-total destruction.

Professor Ahlam Muhtaseb with Cal State San Bernardino said about 47,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombardment - but notes the journal Lancet estimates the total death toll on the Palestinian side to be between 110,000 and 300,000 people.

"There are 10,400 Palestinian hostages," said Muhtaseb. "The narrative should be balanced where we care about the humanity of Palestinians, and the genocide they went through for over 15 months."

About 1,200 Israelis died and about 250 were kidnapped on October 7, 2023.

Supporters of the Palestinian people rallied in San Diego's Balboa Park on Saturday - and in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and San Francisco on Sunday, calling for a lasting peace so Gaza can start to rebuild.

Summer Ismail is a community organizer with the Council on American Islamic Relations in San Diego.

She said she's disappointed that the agreement took so long, since the basic framework has been around since last spring.

And she condemned the fact that Israeli airstrikes killed dozens more people after the deal was announced.

"I would like the United States to stop sending our tax dollars to Israel," said Ismail. "And I'd also like to see the international community continue pursuing their charges against Benjamin Netanyahu and find Israel guilty of genocide."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that President Donald Trump assured him of full U.S. support to resume hostilities, quote, "if Israel reaches the conclusion that the second stage of negotiations are ineffectual."




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Leaders of California's Jewish and Muslim communities say they're relieved that Israel and Hamas have taken the first steps toward ending their brutal war in Gaza. In the first phase of the agreement, Hamas has agreed to release an initial batch of 33 hostages and Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian detainees and implement a ceasefire.

Joy Sisisky, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund of the Bay Area, said she remains concerned about the 65 hostages who will still remain captive after this first six-week phase of the agreement.

"Even the return of all of the hostages is not the end, because they've been held in captivity, many of them for 467 days, and that there is a long road to recovery for not just the hostages but for their families, for their friends, and for many of us here too, who consider them like friends and family," she contended.

Many Californians have personal connections to the conflict, on both sides. The war started when Hamas militants crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 more. Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza has killed approximately 46,000 Palestinians.

Teams from the Biden administration and the Trump camp worked together to press both sides to agree to a deal.

Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations San Francisco, said the ceasefire announcement is bittersweet because it is so long overdue.

"Right now, the international community needs to prioritize accountability, upholding human rights and providing urgently needed relief to the people in Gaza and the West Bank who have suffered incomprehensibly for more than a year now," Billoo said.

The second phase of the deal would see Israel withdraw from Gaza, as Hamas releases all remaining hostages. The third phase would address reconstruction.


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A former White House cybersecurity expert is warning of potential cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. And in Illinois, security analysts are heeding his message on the dangers.

Illinois saw at least 10 major cybersecurity attacks last year.

As former acting principal deputy national cyber director, Jake Braun, executive director at the Harris School of Public Policy's Cyber Policy Initiative at the University of Chicago, said that during his time in the Biden White House, he dealt with escalating cyber threats from China and other nation-states - often targeting utilities.

"They are very deliberately targeting specific water utilities, specific energy operators and so on - that are civilian but support military installations," he said, "so that if we go to war, they've kind of seeded the battlefield, so to speak, with malware."

Of the approximately 50,000 water utilities throughout the United States, Braun said only a few hundred support military operations - and many of the rest are unprotected. Braun noted that he is working with the National Rural Water Association to recruit cybersecurity volunteers to help support local water utilities.

Cybercriminals generally hack utilities for one reason: money. Braun said ransom demands in exchange for the thieves releasing their hold on systems is rising. These schemes start primarily in Russia and other Eastern European countries, but nations such as China are also willing to infiltrate and weaken critical infrastructure.

Braun pointed to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund improvements to these systems.

"And many water utilities aren't even requesting the funds," he said. "So the funds are there, they're available, and water utilities often don't even know they can request the funds for that. And that is true for many other critical infrastructure."

Braun said some water utilities are in such rural areas that they struggle to find cybersecurity experts. He lauded volunteer programs such as the University of Chicago's Project Franklin to fill the gap.

Among the targets of cybersecurity attacks in Illinois last year were the Secretary of State's office, two colleges and a hospital.


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