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US sports teams and athletes show unprecedented amount of support for Israel after Hamas attacks
(JTA) — In an unprecedented show of support for Israel, a number of professional athletes and sports teams issued statements about Hamas’ invasion of the country, which has left over 900 dead.
“The NBA and [the NBA Players’ Association] mourn the horrific loss of life in Israel and condemn these acts of terrorism,” the NBA posted on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. The league’s commissioner, Adam Silver, is Jewish. “We stand with the people of Israel and pray for peace for the entire region.”
Numerous NBA teams then reposted the league’s message. The Washington Wizards, the team of the NBA’s lone Israeli player, Deni Avdija, posted that they “stand with the people of Israel.”
The MLB posted a statement on Monday afternoon, writing on X that the league is “horrified by the acts of terrorism committed against the people of Israel” and is “heartbroken for the people of Israel.”
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2023
Baltimore Orioles Israeli pitcher Dean Kremer, who was born in California to Israeli parents and has played for Team Israel in international tournaments, shared the MLB’s message on Instagram with a Hebrew note saying, “There are no words. My heart just got ripped to shreds.”
Kremer is likely to start the Orioles’ playoff game Tuesday — which they have to win to stay alive in the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers — and Orioles beat reporter Dan Connolly tweeted that some of Kremer’s teammates have checked in on him.
Similar messages of support have poured in from across the sports world over the past three days, including from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is Jewish and a longtime supporter of Israel.
A statement from our founder Robert Kraft. pic.twitter.com/VW3oxNzNvH
— Stand Up to Jewish Hate # (@StandUp2JewHate) October 9, 2023
Other teams that shared posts of support for Israel include the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, Miami’s MLB and NBA teams, the New York Jets, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia 76ers, among others.
Detroit Lions player Alex Anzalone shared that his parents are currently in Jerusalem, pleading with the U.S. government to help them safely evacuate. “It’s hard,” Anzalone told the Detroit News. “(It’s) really all I’ve been thinking about.”
Anzalone’s parents are reportedly part of a group of 53 Americans who arrived in Israel on Oct. 2 as part of a tour group through their church in Naples, Florida. Rep. Byron Donalds, who represents the area in Congress, posted about the group on X, to which Anzalone replied: “My parents are in this group. Please get my parents home… @POTUS,” tagging President Joe Biden’s official account.
Amar’e Stoudemire, the former NBA star who converted to Judaism and played professionally in Israel, shared a video on Instagram calling for a ceasefire, saying he “pray[s] for the safety of Palestinian children along with the Israeli children.” Former Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman wrote on X that he is “heartbroken.”
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) October 8, 2023
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about the war during his pregame press conference on Sunday, saying, “there should be a lot of thoughts and prayers” for Israelis.
“I went this past year and I went in 2016,” Mazzulla said. “It doesn’t matter what you are, whether you’re a Muslim, whether you’re Jewish or Christian, Israeli or Palestinian. They’re people and they go through a lot of dangerous times and situations. Our country is 400 years old and they’ve been going through suffering for 10,000 years. You start to see the perspective of the world, and it’s a really, really tough area to be. So I think we should all be aware of that.”
In Israel, the conflict has already begun affecting previously planned sports events. The Israeli national soccer team’s upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying match against Switzerland, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed. Matches for Israel’s under-17 and under-21 soccer teams were also postponed.
“In light of the current security situation in Israel, UEFA has decided to postpone all matches scheduled in Israel in the next couple of weeks with new dates to be confirmed in due course,” the Union of European Football Associations announced Sunday.
Israel’s top basketball and soccer leagues have also postponed games. The Maccabi Ra’anana basketball team is scheduled to play an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Nets in New York on Thursday as the team celebrates a previously scheduled Israeli Heritage Night. (The Jewish Sport Report, JTA’s sports newsletter, and the New York Jewish Week are co-sponsoring the event.)
The Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club shared on social media that former player Lior Assulin and youth coach Alon Shamli were both killed during the attacks.
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The post US sports teams and athletes show unprecedented amount of support for Israel after Hamas attacks appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.