Vice President Kamala Harris called on Sunday for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, saying Hamas must agree to the six-week truce currently on the table and that Israel should increase the flow of aid to the besieged enclave in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. .
Ms. Harris’ remarks, made in Selma, Ala., bolstered President Joe Biden’s recent push for a deal and came a day before she met with a top Israeli cabinet official involved in war planning, Benny Gantz. Her tone echoed a sharper and more urgent tone coming from the White House as its frustration with Israel grows. Last month, the president called Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas attack “over the top.”
Ms Harris attacked the dire conditions in Gaza, calling the situation a “humanitarian disaster”. It was her most forceful assessment yet of the Middle East conflict, which has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and brought the enclave to the brink of famine.
“What we see every day in Gaza is devastating,” Ms Harris said. “We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed. Women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care. And children dying of malnutrition and dehydration. As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
“The threat posed by Hamas to the people of Israel must be eliminated,” Ms. Harris added. “And given the enormous scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire, for at least the next six weeks.”
Mr. Biden is pushing for a deal between Hamas and Israel that would allow the release of hostages and a temporary ceasefire until Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins around March 10. US officials said Israel had “more or less accepted” the terms of the deal, but Hamas had yet to agree to it.
Ms. Harris reiterated the United States’ support for Israel’s right to defend itself against the ongoing threat from Hamas, which she said has no regard for innocent life in Israel or Gaza. Ms. Harris called Hamas a “violent terrorist organization” that poses a threat to Israel and must be eliminated.
“Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire,” he said. “Well, there’s a deal on the table.”
Ms. Harris spoke at a time when the political consequences of the Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel are coming into sharper focus. While Mr. Biden has been increasingly critical of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attack, his rejection of calls for a permanent ceasefire and a series of past blunders to show a lack of empathy for the Palestinians have divided the Democratic Party. They have also alienated key voters, including Black, youth and Arab-American voters.
Opponents of the war and pro-Palestinian protesters followed Mr. Biden at events across the country to protest his support for Israel in the war. Prominent black religious leaders have called on the administration to end financial aid to Israel, arguing that its military campaign amounts to “mass genocide.”
In perhaps the most blatant warning sign yet, more than 100,000 people, many of them Arab-American, voted “unaffiliated” in Michigan’s primary last week — a preview of what could unfold in other key states that helped elect him. Mr. Biden in 2020.
Ms. Harris also said on Sunday that Israel must do more to allow aid to flow to Gaza, including opening new border crossings, lifting unnecessary restrictions on aid deliveries and restoring services to Gaza.
“People in Gaza are starving,” Ms Harris said. “The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act.”
She condemned a scene that unfolded on Thursday when more than 100 Gazans desperate for food descended on an aid convoy and were met with what Ms Harris called “chaos and gunfire” after Israel opened fire on the crowd.
Israeli and Palestinian officials and witnesses have offered differing accounts of the episode, with Israeli officials blaming crowd crushes for most of the deaths, while witnesses described widespread shooting by Israeli forces.
“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid,” Ms Harris said. “There are no excuses.”
Ms. Harris’ remarks, delivered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during a commemoration of Bloody Sunday, a landmark civil rights event in 1965, drew applause from the crowd.
On March 7, 1965, black Americans were beaten by white police officers on the bridge for marching for their right to vote. The event was widely credited with galvanizing support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was passed five months later.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed to the report.
