Kamala Harris changes stance on Gaza after ‘frank’ talks with Netanyahu

release: July 26, 2024 – 08:23

3 minutes

Kamala Harris Marks us Gaza On Thursday, presidential candidates told Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu A peace deal was reached and she insisted she would not remain “silent” about the suffering in the Palestinian territories.

Tear up the outgoing president Joe BidenThe vice president said after meeting with Netanyahu that it was time to end the “devastating” war.

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is appalling. Everywhere you look, there are images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing, sometimes for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris told reporters.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not remain silent.”

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The 59-year-old — now democracy After Biden said last weekend he would not run in the November election, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she pressed Netanyahu on the dire situation during the “frank” meeting.

She said she had “expressed to the prime minister my grave concern about the human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of too many innocent civilians.”

“I have made clear my grave concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.”

Biden held talks with Netanyahu in the Oval Office and called on him to quickly “finalize” the Gaza agreement Ceasefire and release hostageand “put an end to the Gaza war once and for all”, White House Read the minutes of the meeting.

“Done the deal”

Harris also called for the creation of a Palestinian state and, like Biden, urged Netanyahu and Hamas Agrees to ceasefire and hostage release, ending war sparked by Hamas attack on October 7 Israel.

“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, the time is now to make this deal,” she said.

Harris’ blunt comments stood in contrast to the generally friendly greetings between Biden and Netanyahu earlier in the day, though that masked months of tension between the two men and questions about the relevance of the U.S. president.

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“From a proud Zionist to a proud Irish-American, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said as he saluted Biden at the start of the Oval Office meeting.

Harris has been more outspoken than Biden on Gaza in the past, and there has been speculation she might take a tougher line on Israel. Officials have previously denied there are any “differences” between her and the president.

The White House meeting came a day after the Israeli prime minister gave a speech Intense Speech In a speech to the U.S. Congress, he vowed to achieve “total victory” over Hamas.

‘More optimistic’

Biden and Netanyahu later met with families of American hostages held in Gaza and expressed hope that a new ceasefire proposal could be reached in the coming days.

“We are probably more optimistic than we have been since the first round of releases in late November,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters after the meeting.

A metal barrier was erected around the White House as Netanyahu addressed lawmakers, and protesters then erupted in violent protests and chanted slogans outside the White House.

Netanyahu ‘believes US Democrats are increasingly hostile to the State of Israel’

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While Biden has provided military aid to Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, relations with Netanyahu have been strained over Israel’s behavior during the war and suspicions that Biden could delay a deal.

According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli data, the Hamas attack on October 7 killed 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians.

Of the 251 people abducted that day, 111 are still being held in the Gaza Strip, and 39 of them have died, according to the military.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, but the ministry did not give specific details on the deaths of civilians and militants.

(AFP)