customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

US Vice-President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than us President Joe Biden.
“It is time for this war to end,” Harris said in a televised statement after she held face-to-face talks with Netanyahu.
Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the election race on Sunday, did not mince words about the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza after nine months of war between Israel and Hamas militants.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be numb to the suffering and I will not be silent,” she said.

Harris’ remarks were sharp and serious in tone and raised the question of whether she would be more aggressive in dealing with Netanyahu if elected president on November 5.
But analysts do not expect there would be a major shift in US policy toward Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East.
The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 captives, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s retaliatory attack in Gaza has killed more than 39,000 people and caused a humanitarian calamity with most of the coastal enclave levelled, people displaced from their homes, famine and a shortage of emergency relief.
Biden met with Netanyahu earlier and told him that he needed to close gaps to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and remove obstacles in the flow of aid, according to a readout of the meeting provided by the White House.
Netanyahu will meet Harris’ Republican rival, Donald Trump, on Friday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
A ceasefire has been the subject of negotiations for months. US officials believe the parties are closer than ever before to an agreement for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release by Hamas of women, sick, elderly and wounded hostages.
“There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal, and as I just told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” Harris said.

Although as vice-president she has mostly echoed Biden in firmly backing Israel’s right to defend itself, she made clear on Thursday that she was losing patience with Israel’s military approach.
“Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters,” Harris said.
In March, she bluntly stated that Israel was not doing enough to ease a “humanitarian catastrophe” during its ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Later, she did not rule out “consequences” for Israel if it launched a full-scale invasion of refugee-packed Rafah in southern Gaza.
The Gaza conflict has splintered the Democratic Party, and sparked months of protests at Biden events. A drop in support among Arab Americans could hurt Democratic chances in Michigan, one of a handful of states likely to decide the November 5 election.
In a nod to those concerns, Harris urged Americans to help “encourage efforts to understand the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region”.
“To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you and I hear you,” she said. “Let’s get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war.”
In an Oval Office address on Wednesday, Biden cited a desire for unity in the Democratic Party as it seeks to defeat Trump as a main reason he decided not to seek re-election but to instead support Harris for the 2024 race.
Harris maintains closer ties to Democratic progressives, some of whom have urged Biden to attach conditions to US weapons shipments to Israel out of concern for high Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza. The US is a major arms supplier to Israel and has protected the country from critical United Nations votes.
Biden and Netanyahu met together with the families of Americans held by Hamas, who expressed hope for a ceasefire including a release of hostages. “We came today with a sense of urgency,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son is a captive.


Gaza war: US charges Hamas leaders over October 7 attack on Israel

US says ‘time to finalise’ Gaza deal after Israeli hostage deaths

Gaza war: UK sparks diplomatic row with Israel by halting some arms exports

Israel mourns hostages killed in Gaza as ceasefire deal remains out of reach

Israel-Gaza war

Kamala Harris pushes Israel’s Netanyahu to ease suffering in Gaza: ‘I will not be silent’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday. Photo: AP

Pro-Palestinian protesters near the White House on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Thursday. Photo: AP

Israel’s Netanyahu gives fiery defence of Gaza war in speech to US Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the US Capitol on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Capitol in Washington. Photo: AP

US congresswoman Rashida Tlaib holds a sign saying ‘guilty of genocide’. Photo: AP

Police detain a pro-Palestinian demonstrator in Washington. Photo: Reuters

Israeli army recovers bodies of 5 hostages from Gaza

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardments in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday. Photo: AP

Ravid Katz, Kiril Brodski, Tomer Ahimas, Oren Goldin and Maya Goren. Photo: Hostages Families Forum Headquarters via AFP

Relatives and friends of hostages held in the Gaza Strip march during a rally calling for their release in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: AP

Joe Biden insists US leads China as he explains decision to ‘pass the torch’

US President Joe Biden makes his first address since his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. Photo: AP

US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Photo: AP

US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday Photo: AP

News

World

Middle East

US presidential hopeful tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it’s time for the war to end


US presidential hopeful Kamala Harris tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it’s time for the war to end.
