Growing calls for a cease-fire in Gaza manifested again around Boston on Thursday, with protesters blocking the Boston University Bridge through the morning and local Black pastors gathering to call for an end to the bloodshed.

Thursday’s protest, which was led by the Jewish group IfNotNow, and the cease-fire calls from a group of Boston-based Black pastors join mounting calls in Boston and throughout the U.S. and other nations for an end to the war in Gaza as the death toll reaches ever-more staggering heights.

Over 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, two-thirds of whom are believed to be minors and women, according to Palestinian health authorities. Over 2,700 are reported missing, believed to be buried under rubble.

Israeli authorities have reported over 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7 attack and another 240 taken hostage by Hamas.

“Over the last six weeks, our hearts have been broken, our spirits troubled by the continued loss of precious life,” said Rev. Art Gordon of the St. John Missionary Baptist Church at a press event Thursday. “We mourn the loss of Israelis during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. And we mourn the loss of Palestinian lives because of this war. Our moral conscience and the spirit of our own Black prophetic tradition compel us to speak up to say, ‘Cease-fire now.’ ”

Dozens of people — many of whom identified as Jewish and wore “Not in Our Name” shirts — reportedly blocked the Boston University Bridge and called on elected officials to support a cease-fire at 8 a.m. and remained for over two hours.

“We have called, we have marched, we have sung, we have prayed. We have written letters, and visited offices,” tweeted IfNotNow Boston on X. “Yet politicians like @JoeBiden + @SenWarren continue to stonewall, & Israel continues to slaughter innocent Gazans by the thousands. Enough. We cannot wait another day.”

Just before 11 a.m., the group noted they were exiting but would be back, noting, “We won’t stop until the bombing stops, until the massacre stops.”

Shortly after, the group of pastors echoed a similar call for Biden and other politicians to explicitly call for a cease-fire at a press event at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Roxbury.

The religious leaders, representing churches including Twelfth Baptist, Pleasant Hill Baptist, Greater Love Tabernacle, Columbus Avenue AME Zion and First Baptist Church in Dorchester, said the call would continue to go out to their congregations at services.

Related Articles

Internet, phone networks collapse in Gaza, threatening to worsen humanitarian crisis

Demonstrators calling for Gaza cease-fire block BU bridge

Howie Carr: Hate is finding a home on college campuses

Live updates | Israeli tanks and soldiers search Gaza’s Shifa Hospital compound

Israel searches for traces of Hamas in raid of key Gaza hospital packed with patients

In addition to the cease-fire, said Rev. Willie Bodrick II, they called on leaders to seek the release of all hostages and the “protection of women, children, men, hospitals and refugees.”

As people of faith, Bodrick said, he felt they had a “Christian responsibility not to be silent in times of distress.”

“Although we may be separated by thousands of miles, both Israelis and Palestinians are our neighbors,” said Gordon. “John Donne once said, no one is an island entire himself, and the loss of any life affects us. And it is our chief concern to save lives going forward.”