Palestinians and Israelis in the New York area are keeping a close eye on the unfolding events in the Middle East.

Some Israelis are hoping for a cease-fire, like Rona Merrill, a self-described Israeli “anarchist.” She says she worries about calls within Israel for a more decisive military end to the conflict. “That is not necessarily going to lead to peace and it's not necessarily going to lead to anything good for Israel,” she said.

Other local Israelis are taking a harder line. Roman Fichman thinks a cease-fire won't be productive because it won’t stop Hamas from firing rockets into Israel – something Israelis having been living with for years. “And that’s just not something that people in Israel are willing to accept anymore,” he argued.

Meanwhile, some Palestinian New Yorkers are dismayed as they watch and hear about the events back home. Tanya Keilani says that even with a cease-fire, she worries that the peace won't be lasting.

“[The Israelis] also said that bombing Gaza is sort of like mowing the grass, it's just something you have to do once in a while,” she said, “to create a sense of deterrence, to make the population in Gaza, and of Palestinians in general feel hopeless, and unable to fight for their rights and dignity.”

But the Israeli airstrikes may be having the opposite effect, and may be solidifying support for Hamas, which the U.S. considers to be a terror group. Hazem Jamjoum, a doctoral student at NYU, said many Palestinians are supporting Hamas during this latest crisis because they think the group is preserving the dignity of the population under occupation.

“Anywhere in the world, any human being who is put under a circumstance like this, is going to want to fight back, whether they can or not,” he argued. “And it doesn't matter if you're American, or Kazakhstani or Nigerian or whatever, you're going to want to fight back. It's a human thing."

Jamjoum also expressed disappointment in President Obama for "standing on the sidelines" The Obama administration blames Hamas for the latest eruption of violence and says Israel has the right to defend itself. At the same time, it has warned against an Israeli ground invasion, saying it could send casualties spiraling.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly stated that Hazem Jamoum supports Hamas in this latest conflict, when he was actually explaining why other Palestinians were supporting the group.