WASHINGTON, Jul 26 : US Vice President Kamala Harris has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to quickly conclude a ceasefire deal with Hamas and reach a “durable end” to the devastating war in Gaza, amidst mounting civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.
“Israel has a right to defend itself and how it does so matters. What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating,” Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told reporters after her meeting with Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday.
“The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent,” she said.
Harris also stressed the need for a path to a two-state solution, while calling on Americans to be aware of the “nuance” on the conflict.
Earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu met President Joe Biden, who stepped down from his re-election campaign on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s meetings at the White House came a day after he gave a fiery speech to Congress, vowing “total victory” against Hamas, as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside.
The Israeli prime minister faces pressure both at home and abroad to bring an end to the Israel-Gaza war, now in its ninth month.
“I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation. On October 7, Hamas triggered this war when it massacred 1,200 innocent people, including 44 Americans, Harris said.
Hamas has committed horrific acts of sexual violence and took 250 hostages. There are American citizens who remain captive in Gaza,” Harris said.
During her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris said that she voiced her serious concern to Netanyahu about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.
“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there. With over 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 past nine months is devastating,” she said.
Harris said there is a US-proposed deal on the table for a ceasefire and a hostage deal. The first phase of the deal would bring about a full ceasefire, including a withdrawal of the Israeli military from population centers in Gaza. In the second phase, the Israeli military would withdraw from Gaza entirely and it would lead to a permanent end to the hostilities.
“It is time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, and self-determination. There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” she said.
“I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. So to everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you.
Let’s get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home and let’s provide much-needed relief to the Palestinian people,” Harris said.
Harris also told reporters that “it is important for the American people to remember, the war in Gaza is not a binary issue.”
“Let us all condemn terrorism and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians. And let us condemn antisemitism, islamophobia and hate of any kind. And let us work to unite our country,” she said. (PTI)
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