Kamala Harris said she “will not remain silent” about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza after a meeting with Israel’s prime minister.
The Democratic Party’s likely presidential candidate said she raised “serious concerns” with Benjamin Netanyahu in talks at the White House on Thursday.
The meeting took place after Mr. Netanyahu met with Biden, who is pushing for Israel and Hamas to sign a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
Commenting on his conversation with the Israeli leader, Mrs. Harris He said Israel had the right to defend itself, but added clearly that “how it does it matters.”
The Joe Biden administration’s support for Israel has been criticized in the United States with protests on university campuses and in Washington.
While Harris described Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization” whose Oct. 7 attack on Israel started the war, there were a number of moments in her post-meeting comments designed to demonstrate that the United States expected much more from Netanyahu.
Referring to the situation in Gaza, he said: “I also expressed to the Prime Minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the deaths of too many innocent civilians.
“And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there. With more than two million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, what has happened in Gaza over the last Nine months is devastating.
“The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes households displaced for a second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away from these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And No I will remain silent.”
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Perhaps aware that he is already effectively on an election campaign in his country, he gave details of the proposed ceasefire agreement, including the release of the remaining hostages, some of whom are Americans.
He said the first step would be a “complete ceasefire” that would include the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza’s population centers.
The second phase would involve an Israeli military withdrawal from all of Gaza, leading to a “permanent cessation of hostilities” and the release of hostages.
“It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is safe, all the hostages are freed, the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination.
“And ultimately, I remain committed to a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution.”
This is something Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected, claiming it is incompatible with Israel’s security.
Harris had described her conversations with the Israeli prime minister as “candid” and her post-meeting statement contained an element of rebuke for Netanyahu.
For his part, he will try to appeal to the other side of the American political coin when he visits the Republican candidate and former The president of the United States, Donald Trump. later today at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
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