By Deutsche Welle
26 Jul 2024, 01:40 AM EDT
US Vice President and possible Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the “war in Gaza must end” with a ceasefire agreement and the release of hostages.
“I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu that it’s time for the deal to be done. So to all the people who have been calling for a ceasefire and yearning for peace: I see you and I hear you. Let’s get the deal done to get a ceasefire and end the war,” Harris told reporters at the end of the meeting.
“The death of innocent civilians”
Harris had previously been photographed with Netanyahu, but appeared alone, with a message that deviated slightly from President Joe Biden’s line, with greater empathy for the suffering of the Palestinian population.
“I made this clear to the Prime Minister: my grave concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of too many innocent civilians,” the vice president said.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is heartbreaking. These images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, some displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look the other way in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not remain silent,” Harris said.
Solidarity with hostages
He also expressed his solidarity with the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, and in particular those who are also US nationals, whom he mentioned one by one by name.
In what seemed like an appeal to American voters, Harris asked for an effort to understand that the Gaza conflict is not binary (good and bad) and that we must “understand the complexity and nuances of the region’s history,” for which she called to “condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hatred.”
Among the signals that Harris has left of a new tone towards Israel, on July 24 she was the notable absentee – having been invited as president of the Senate – from Netanyahu’s speech before the United States Congress, where he defended maintaining his war against Hamas until the “final victory.”
Meeting between Biden, Netanyahu and hostage families
Shortly before meeting with Harris, Netanyahu met with Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, and then both leaders met with relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to the US government, Biden’s main objective is to pressure Netanyahu to close a deal with Hamas that would allow for a truce in Gaza and the release of the hostages, an objective that was also reiterated by Harris.
Keep reading:
- House Speaker Criticizes Kamala Harris for Skipping Netanyahu’s Speech
- Biden to meet Netanyahu at White House on Thursday
- Kamala Harris’ nomination receives support from Democratic leaders in Congress