It is time for this war to end, Harris tells Netanyahu.
WASHINGTON - US Vice President Kamala Harris has insisted that she would not be “silent” on suffering in Gaza while also touting her pro-Israel bona fides, in comments made shortly after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her remarks drew furious Israelis that they could complicate efforts to reach a deal with the Hamas to free hostages and end the war in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters after what she called a “frank and constructive” meeting with Netanyahu at the White House, Harris said it was time to end the “devastating” war sparked by the Hamas brutal October 7 attack on Israel, in comments that some saw as a sign of a possible shift in Washington’s stance as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president takes center stage.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris told reporters. “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.”
Netanyahu, who has been in Washington since Monday, met separately with US President Joe Biden and with Harris in the White House on Thursday. He also met the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump on Friday. In a speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, the Israeli PM stressed the need for a “total victory” over Hamas. In her press conference after the Netanyahu meeting, Harris also said “Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters.” The vice president noted that she pressed Netanyahu on the “dire” situation in Gaza during their 40-minute meeting in Washington, while also stressing the importance of reaching a deal to free hostages and end the war. Harris said she “expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering and Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians. And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.” Harris said there had been “hopeful movement in the talks to secure” a hostage deal, which she said would end the war and pave the way for Palestinian statehood. “As I just told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said.
While most of Harris’s five-minute speech consisted of talking points that both she and Biden have used throughout the war, many noted that there had been a greater emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “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,” Harris said.
