‘I WILL NOT BE SILENT’ ON GAZA, KAMALA HARRIS SAYS AFTER MEETING NETANYAHU

Fri 26 July 2024:

Kamala Harris said she pressed Benjamin Netanyahu about her concerns about the humanitarian situation in Gaza in “frank” talks in Washington that are being closely watched for indications of how she might deal with Israel if she becomes president.

Happening Now: Tune in as I deliver remarks to press about my meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. https://t.co/qNY03XVTrX

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 25, 2024

After speaking to the Israeli prime minister she said:

Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters. I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there [in Gaza]. I will not be silent.

Harris’s remarks, which were sharp and serious in tone, reflected what could be a shift from President Joe Biden in how she deals with Netanyahu, Reuters reported.

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”I have had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security, and to the people of Israel.”

US VP Kamala Harris says she expressed her ‘serious concerns’ to Israeli PM Netanyahu about the ‘scale of human suffering in Gaza.’ pic.twitter.com/1U0KErqiDL

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 26, 2024

A few more comments from Kamala Harris following her meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, courtesy of Associated Press, which writes:

Harris said after her meeting with Netanyahu that Israel’s war with Hamas is complicated and that “too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but.”

The vice president said she supported Israel’s right to defend itself but also described widespread suffering among Gaza’s civilian population as fighting continues.

“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies,” she said. “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering.”

The vice-president also said she and Biden were “working every day” to bring home the US hostages being held in Gaza. AP reports further:

She recalled planting trees for Israel as a child and said that as a senator from California and as vice president she’s had an “unwavering commitment to the existence of the state of Israel” and its people. She said Israel has “a right to defend itself and how it does so matters.”

Hours earlier, Biden pressed for a ceasefire to the nine-month-old war in Gaza in his first face-to-face talks with Netanyahu since the president traveled to Israel days after Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and pledged American support.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said gaps remained between Israel and the Hamas militants who run the Palestinian enclave in the drive for a ceasefire but “we are closer now than we’ve been before”.

“Both sides have to make compromises,” Kirby said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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