SKOKIE, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The leader of a Skokie Jewish center, who traveled to Israel last week with other rabbis, has called on Jewish people to bring them spiritual support.
Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf, head of Chabad Education Center of Chicago, which is located in Skokie, said that while visiting wounded Israelis, he learned Hamas militants also attacked farm workers from Thailand.
"They rounded up … these Thai workers, beheaded them, put them in a pile and burnt them to a crisp," he said.
Officials with Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that the Israel-Hamas war has resulted in 32 Thai nationals being killed. The ministry also stated 19 people were injured and 19 others were abducted.
Wolf joined 26 other rabbis — mostly from the United States but also from Canada and Australia — who went to Israel to pray with and support Jewish victims.
While he said Israelis are determined and morale is high among the nation's soldiers, Wolf said he wants people back home and across the globe to join in a spiritual battle.
"We are encouraging all Jewish women in this country and throughout the world, that on Friday evening before sunset, they light the Shabbat candles to bring light into this dark world," he said.
The rabbis saw the generosity of other Israelis, Wolf said, while providing comfort and supplies to those who were injured or had relatives killed by Hamas.
That support came in the form of medical supplies and $500,000, in cash, which Wolf said they brought with them in suitcases.
The Israel-Hamas war has become the deadliest and most destructive of the five wars fought between the sides since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority.
Fighting erupted on Oct. 7, when Hamas carried out a bloody attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza strip with airstrikes. On Oct. 27, the Associated Press reported that 1,400 Israelis had been killed. It reported that 8,005 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza, with an additional 116 Palestinians killed in the West Bank. Those estimates were sourced from the Gaza Health Ministry and Israeli officials, as well as international observers and aid groups.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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