SARANAC LAKE — Harrietstown Supervisor Jordanna Mallach is hosting a candlelight vigil against hate and terrorism at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Riverside Park, in response to the Hamas terror attacks this week in Israel, where she once lived.

Mallach said she has been “really disturbed” watching the brutal conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas at the border of the Gaza Strip this week.

The death count is rising — up to 2,700 dead in total. An estimated 1,200 have been killed by Hamas in Israel — only 247 of which have been identified as soldiers, according to Israel’s military, meaning around 2,450 were civilians. An estimated 1,537 have been killed by Israeli retaliatory strikes in Gaza — including around 500 children and 276 women, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The death toll in Israel includes 27 Americans. Thousands more are wounded.

Civilians — men, women, children and infants — are among the many dead. Allegations of horrendous war crimes have been lodged by both Israel and Palestine against the other.

“It’s not about who is right or wrong,” Mallach said of tonight’s vigil. “It’s just, like, hate and terrorism is not right. It’s not OK.”

Mallach said this is meant to be a “super simple” gathering. She’s been reaching out to leaders in the faith communities to speak and pray. This is important, she said, in a time when it feels like the world is on fire.

“I believe in the power of prayer. I believe about putting good intention behind things,” Mallach said.

Mallach said she will provide candles and people can bring their own.

“I invite anyone who would like to speak or share a prayer to do so, but most importantly just come and be present for one another,” she wrote on social media Tuesday.

She said people have been reaching out to her, some with connections to Israel, and she felt she needed to organize a time for prayer and unity.

“To some people it’s really far away,” Mallach said. “But, I guess for me, it didn’t feel far at all.”

Her father was raised in Israel. After high school, she spent most of her summers living and working there. She still has family there.

This attack reminded her of the helpless feeling of watching the U.S.’s exit from Afghanistan in 2021, watching it unfold without any way to influence it.

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began she said she was in a unique position to do something about it. At the time, she was deployed to Kosovo with the Vermont Army National Guard at NATO command and was able to start up a grassroots effort to get tens of thousands of euros worth of materials to Ukraine.

Now, she again feels helpless. She said she knows countless others do, too.