SALT LAKE CITY — Sunday marked six months since the surprise attack carried out by Hamas on Israel.
Hamas-led militants killed more than 1,100 people in the Oct. 7 attack. 250 people were also kidnapped, according to the Associated Press.
Currently, 134 people, most of whom are Israelis, are still being held captive.
"The past six months have been very challenging for a lot of people," said Rabbi Sam Spector with Congregation Kol Ami.
In November, Spector made a trip to Israel to see the devastation of the conflict firsthand.
"I talked to a gentleman whose wife and son were murdered in his arms, and he survived but lost his leg," he said.
Spector says they've had to make several security upgrades to his Salt Lake City synagogue. This comes after they received a bomb threat on Oct. 8 and several threatening phone calls and e-mails in the months that followed.
"Couple weeks before Oct. 7, we installed about 20 security cameras and we're going to be installing another 20 on our property," he said. "We also put into place flagpoles in front of our building to prevent people from driving at congregants on the sidewalk. We have had to have police presence nearly daily since Oct. 7."
Spector said they spend a couple thousand dollars a week to have a police presence outside his synagogue. Money raised by the congregation itself is used to fund that.
He also spoke about the impact the war is having, not just on the Jewish community.
"I think it's very challenging and troubling to see the difficult situation of the Palestinian people, and our hearts break for innocent civilians who are caught in the crossfire of this war," he said.
Tala Hammond is a first-generation Palestinian living here in Utah.
"My parents still have family there, family that is not treated equally," she said.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel has left nearly 33,000 Palestinians dead.
"I think it is really hard to fathom these numbers, and I think also knowing that a majority, that huge part of these numbers are children, too, is really heartbreaking," Hammond said. "How quickly the numbers are adding up is so concerning."
Both Hammond and Spector spoke about what they hope to see happen moving forward.
"Personally, I think ceasefire should be the absolute bare minimum. I just saw this a couple days ago: I think Joe Biden has finally called for a ceasefire," said Hammond.
"We hope and pray that one day everybody in that region will know peace," Spector added.
FOX 13 News also reached out to the United Jewish Federation of Utah.
Ron Zamir, the vice president of community relations for the federation, said we have to understand that our lives will not go back to Oct. 6. He said Oct. 7 created a new reality, which we are still trying to live in.
