A New York City mum whose daughter was gunned down by Hamas believes the terrorists will “come for Americans” next.
Oriya Ricardo, 26, was one of more than 250 festival-goers killed on Saturday as Hamas forces launched an incursion on southern Israel. In total, the wider conflict has far resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people.
Oriya’s body was only identified on Tuesday after her family spent an agonising three days waiting for news.
Mum Hannie paid a touching tribute to Oriya, saying that she “brought light everywhere she came”.
And she says Hamas will turn their attention to the US next, adding: “When they’re done with the Jews they will come for the Americans.”
She described her daughter as a “very happy girl, [who] loved to party, was always the center of everything”.
Hannie said: “She was the source of power in my life. I need to speak about her and for her and for all those 1,200 young people that were massacred by Hamas. They have not a bit of humanity in them.
“These kids went to dance and these kids, these parties are peaceful people. They all fight for peace. Now, they are gone, and among them my youngest daughter.”
The distraught mother called on the United States and its partners to put up a united front against Hamas.
She continued: “Every dollar you give to Hamas, every dollar you put there, goes for terror. It doesn’t go to the poor Arab people that live in Gaza.
“They could have turned this place into paradise if they’d invest the billions they got from EU and other organizations.
“The only thing I can compare these monsters, these inhuman beings are the Nazis. The same kind of people. The world needs to know and the world needs to fight them.”
She told MSNBC: “I know Israel bombed Gaza, but we never start. We always respond. I feel for these Palestinians.
“I feel for them but they are hostages in the hands of Hamas and Iran and all of these terrorists.”
Oriya is one of 14 Americans confirmed to have died in the attacks. Another 20 are currently unaccounted for and believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas.
Israel has cut off supplies of food, fuel, electricity and medicine into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt was shut down on Tuesday after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.
Gaza’s power authority said its only power plant has since run out of fuel, leaving the territory without electricity.
As authorities in Gaza warned that rescue teams were unable to reach many areas and that electricity supplies would soon run out, humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors for the delivery of aid.
The war, which has claimed at least 2,200 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate.
Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against Hamas, after the Islamic militant group’s fighters broke through the border fence Saturday and stormed into the country’s south.
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