Locals feeling helpless about the conflict in Gaza

Israel continues its campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza, vowing no ceasefire until the rocket barrage from Gaza stops. 64 Palestinian civilians have been killed since the ground assault began.

Here in Wilmington, people with international ties are feeling guilty and helpless about the ongoing conflict.

The fighting continues over 17 miles of land that two opposing groups say spiritually belongs to them, the Gaza Strip.

“When you look at the orthodox religious perspectives on either side, they are going to sight a religious divine right to this land,” said former House candidate, Byron DeLear.

Palestinian business owner, Musa Agil said, “Well the Palestinian god did not say, ‘well this land belongs to the Jews or to the Israelis’.”

Musa Agil is originally from the Palestinian territory of West Bank. Agil said the land belongs to Palestine. He now lives here in Wilmington with his wife and children, and owns three businesses.

While Agil agrees with the fundamentals of the Palestinian government, he advocates a peaceful resolution to the fighting that’s been waged in Gaza for more than a week, killing hundreds. He said the only way to stop the fighting in the Middle East is to learn how to share. “We are encouraging the Israelis to change the map in the Middle East by wiping out so many innocent Palestinians in Gaza.”

“They talk about how a two state solution is inevitable, but yet no real progress is being made to help establish that two state solution,” said DeLear.

Byron DeLear is a Democrat who ran for the House of Representatives twice. He is off to Israel next week to help non-profit American organizations there, to help facilitate peace.

For both men, sitting back on the American sidelines and simply watching the crisis play out is not what they want to be doing.

“Here we have so many bounties, and security, and these poor Palestinian people don’t have anything, and they are being bombarded from the air, the sea, and the land,” Agil said.

“Israeli citizens as well as Palestinian citizens desperately want an acceptable solution so they can have something as simply as safety,” added DeLear.

DeLear is headed to Israel with high hopes, and while he and Agil are on opposing sides of the conflict, they both agree a solution to solving a problem that’s existed for thousands of years, won’t happen overnight.