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Jewish Community Will Remain in Ukraine For ‘Long Haul,’ Humanitarian Official Says, As Russian Invasion Anniversary Approaches
JDC aid workers wrap a blanket around Ella Varshavaskaya, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo: Arik Shraga
Jews in war-torn Ukraine will remain there for the “long haul,” according to a leading official with a Jewish humanitarian organization providing aid to the Jewish and broader community in the country.
“I have been traveling extensively around the country the last week and one truth becomes abundantly clear: the majority of the Jews are here for the long haul,” Oksana Galkevich — Ukraine country director for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) — told The Algemeiner in an email on Friday.
“They are not abandoning their homes and their communities, and even though they may be in distress, they want to live life to the fullest,” Galkevich observed. “This means that every life we save, every family we sustain, and every aspect of Jewish life we preserve and magnify becomes a gift whose returns are tenfold.”
Galkevich sounded a rare note of hope in a war that shows little sign of resolution as it approaches its second anniversary on Feb. 24. According to UN figures, at least 30,000 Ukrainians have been killed during the Russian invasion, although independent assessments suggest that the true number is much higher. Up to 70,000 Ukrainian troops are believed to have lost their lives in their efforts to repel the Russian onslaught.
Galkevich noted that while “spirits in the Jewish community are not high as they once were, especially as this conflict grinds on for a second year, people are resolute that life must continue. Yes, it’s getting harder for people – the economy is crippled, people are traumatized, and uncertainty grows – but they are not giving up.” Prior to the invasion — according to research by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), a London-based think tank — Ukraine had a “core” Jewish population of 40,000, while approximately 190,000 Ukrainian nationals are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return on the grounds of having at least one Jewish grandparent.
The JDC is meanwhile boosting its aid effort in Ukraine, as well as to the more than 13,000 Ukrainian Jewish refugees scattered around Europe.
“Even as we address multiple global crises, including the ongoing war in Israel, we remain laser focused on the dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine. These needs are all the more painful with widespread trauma, spiking unemployment, and serious gaps in children’s education,” JDC CEO Ariel Zwang said in a statement to mark the forthcoming second anniversary of the invasion. “I am proud of all the people we have helped in the past two years, but our work is nowhere near complete.”
The post Jewish Community Will Remain in Ukraine For ‘Long Haul,’ Humanitarian Official Says, As Russian Invasion Anniversary Approaches first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.