Kamala Harris signaled a major shift in US Gaza policy on Thursday when the presidential candidate called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a peace deal and insisted she would not remain “silent” over the suffering in the Palestinian territory.
Criticising outgoing President Joe Biden’s comments about putting behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel, the vice president said after meeting Netanyahu that it was time to end this “destructive” war.
“What has happened in Gaza over the last nine months has been devastating,” Harris told reporters. “There have been images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes becoming displaced for a second, third or fourth time.”
“We cannot turn a blind eye to these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to suffering, and I will not be silent.”
Netanyahu, 59, is now the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee after Biden said over the weekend that he would not stand in the November election. He said he pressed Netanyahu about the dire situation in a “frank” meeting.
He said he “expressed to the Prime Minister his deep concern about the magnitude of humanitarian suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of a large number of innocent civilians.”
“And I expressed my grave concern about the terrible humanitarian situation there.”
– ‘Get this deal done’ –
Harris also called for the establishment of a Palestinian state and called on them and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the war sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, now is the time to complete this deal,” he said.
Harris’s outspoken comments stood in contrast to the largely cordial greeting between Biden and Netanyahu earlier in the day, even if it masked months of tension between the two men as well as questions over the US president’s relevance.
Netanyahu paid tribute to Biden at the start of the Oval Office meeting, saying, “From a proud Jew to a proud Jewish Irish American, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel.”
“And I look forward to discussing this with you today and working with you in the months ahead.”
Harris has previously been more outspoken than Biden on Gaza and there has been speculation that she could take a tougher stance on Israel. Officials have previously denied there are any “differences” between her and Biden.
The White House said Biden would tell Netanyahu that a deal requires “compromise,” before the Israeli prime minister delivered a fiery speech to the US Congress on Wednesday in which he vowed “complete victory” against Hamas.
“The president will reaffirm to Prime Minister Netanyahu that he believes we have to get there, and we have to get there quickly,” spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
– ‘More optimistic’ –
Biden and Netanyahu later met with families of American hostages held in Gaza, who said they expected a possible new ceasefire proposal in the coming days.
“We’re feeling probably more optimistic than we have since the first round of releases at the end of November,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters after the meeting.
Protesters chanted slogans outside metal barriers erected around the White House following a rowdy protest during Netanyahu’s speech to lawmakers.
While Biden has continued military aid to Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attacks, relations with Netanyahu have become deeply strained over Israel’s conduct during the war and suspicions that he is delaying a deal.
Hamas attacks since October 7 have killed 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 111 are still being held in the Gaza Strip, 39 of whom the military says are dead.
At least 39,175 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli counter-offensives against Hamas, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, though the ministry did not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant deaths.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
