NYC Mayor Adams says Hamas must be ‘disbanded and destroyed’ during Israel vigil

New York City Mayor Eric Adams had harsh words for Hamas as thousands of New Yorkers, interfaith leaders and elected officials gathered Tuesday to support Israel at a Manhattan vigil and rally and to denounce Hamas the terrorist group. 

Speaking at “The New York Stand with Israel Vigil and Rally” in Manhattan, Adams pledged the city’s support for Israel while denouncing the perpetrators of Saturday’s deadly attack on Israelis. He also called out the pro-Palestinian protests in his own city. 

“We are not alright when right here in the city of New York, you have those who celebrate at the same time when devastation is taking place in our city,” Adams said. “Israel has the right to defend itself. Your fight is our fight.”

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A large crowd gathers Tuesday in New York City at a rally in support of Israel. Mayor Eric Adams stated his support for Israel and condemned Hamas.  (Jen Golotko for Fox News Digital)

He also called for Hamas to be “disbanded and destroyed immediately.”

Tuesday’s rally came as large protests in support of the Palestinians broke out in the days after the Hamas terrorist group launched a surprise attack in southern Israel. Israel has since launched a major offensive consisting of deadly airstrikes targeting the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. 

The Biden administration delivered armaments sometime Tuesday evening, the Israeli Defense Forces said. 

In New York and elsewhere, small clashes have broken between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters angrily confronting each other during demonstrations about the events happening thousands of miles away. 

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One such rally was organized by the NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and drew immediate rebuke from Democrats and Republicans. 

Demonstrators at the rally burned and stomped on an Israeli flag and taunted Israel supporters with an image of a swastika. Others exhibited signs that read, “Palestinian return by any means necessary,” “Israeli apartheid & genocide funded by the U.S.” and “End all U.S. aid to Israel!”

At Tuesday’s NYC rally, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said: “There must be justice for the slaughter of babies and children and grandmothers and families torn apart by the horror of what happened to their loved ones.”

“New York and Israel always stand together,” she added.

Pro-Israel supporters gather at the MIT campus Tuesday around a glowing Star of David in Cambridge, Mass. (Kassy Dillon for Fox News Digital)

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Israeli supporters gather on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus Tuesday night as well. An Israeli woman who said she just graduated from Harvard Business School, told Fox News Digital some of her family members back home are “in shelters” and on “the front line fighting.”

She noted Israeli media reports that at least 40 babies were found dead, including some of them beheaded, in one village. 

“There’s no way to see two sides in something like this. This is terror,” she said. “It brings back alot of Holocaust moments for Jews, for Israelis. I’m broken to tears. I’ve been crying since all this began.”

“This is not freedom fighters,” she added. “This is not a legitimate resistance. These are people that want to kill. They’re out for blood. They want to kill all Jews.”

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A day earlier, Anti-Israel demonstrators faced off with counter-protesters at Cambridge City Hall, with one man calling the pro-Israel side “Nazis” and “pigs.”