El Pasoans react to attack on Israel

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- After learning of the Hamas attack on Israel Saturday, El Pasoans are deliberating not only on where tensions stand in the Middle East, but also across the world.

"What's going on in Israel over these last 24 hours has been something that has never occurred in Israel to the extent and to the scale that it's occurred here," said Peter Svarzbein, the Community Engagement Manager for El Paso for the Anti-Defamation League. "To see this kind of horrific attack, 50 years and a day after the Yom Kippur War -- one of the most violent and hard fought wars in the young 75 year history of the modern state of Israel -- is unbelievably shocking."

Svarzbein has family across Israel, with some living in areas affected by the attack. But he told ABC-7, so do millions of other Americans and people across the world, and he said this conflict affects everyone. Richard Pineda, Director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication Studies at UTEP, agrees.

"You've got a lot of people that are in the mix. And I think any time that there is sort of country on country tensions, it's probably a lot easier to contain. But I think the situation in the Middle East, the reason people should pay attention is because it does always have the possibility of rolling over," Pineda said. "At the end of the day, the conversation about what happens in in these kinds of fights are not about political gains or losses. It's about the loss of human life. And I think that regardless of your perspective on this particular issue, I think any time that the people's lives are affected, particularly on both sides, that they're noncombatants, then I mean, really, that's when I think the threshold of what's going on really should should have a big impact for people globally."

CNN reported that at least 300 people are dead and thousands are injured after Hamas launched rockets into Israel Saturday. ABC-7 will provide updates on air and online as we get them.