Elected and religious leaders gathered beneath the Bell Tower in Riverdale Sunday morning to denounce hate and antisemitism as the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate.

Riverdale is home to much of the Jewish population in the Bronx.

"These crimes against humanity cannot go ignored, and they cannot go unpunished," said Rep. Ritchie Torres.

The congressman was in attendance along with local rabbis and Michal Cotler-Wunsh – Israel's special envoy for combatting antisemitism.

"Speak up because in this war of extremism, barbaric savagery on civilization of shared humanity, we have to win," Wunsh said.

More than 1,300 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of them civilians, in Hamas' Oct. 7 assault. An estimated 150 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza. It's also the deadliest war for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria.

"Those who insist that Israel should do nothing in the face of the deadliest terrorist attack are holding the Jewish state to a dangerous double standard that no other country, including the United States, would ever impose on itself," said Torres.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,450 Palestinians have been killed and 9,200 wounded since the fighting erupted, more than in the 2014 Gaza war, which lasted over six weeks. That makes this the deadliest of the five Gaza wars for both sides.

AP Wire Services contributed to this report.