‘I will not be silent’: Kamala Harris tells Israeli PM Netanyahu ‘it is time’ to finalize hostage deal and end Gaza war – Times of India

‘I will not be silent’: Kamala Harris tells Israeli PM Netanyahu ‘it is time’ to finalize hostage deal and end Gaza war – Times of India



Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to finalize a peace deal and expressed her unwillingness to stay silent on the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. This marks a departure from the method of outgoing President Joe Biden, who largely exercised behind-the-scenes stress on Israel.
Chatting with reporters after her assembly with Netanyahu, Harris condemned the continuing battle, saying, “What has occurred in Gaza over the previous 9 months is devastating.The photographs of lifeless kids and determined hungry individuals fleeing for security, typically displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We can’t look away within the face of those tragedies. We can’t permit ourselves to turn into numb to the struggling and I can’t be silent.”
Harris, who assumed the Democratic presidential nomination after Biden introduced he wouldn’t search re-election, emphasised the urgency of addressing the humanitarian disaster throughout her “frank” dialogue with Netanyahu. “I expressed with the prime minister my severe concern in regards to the scale of human struggling in Gaza, together with the demise of far too many harmless civilians. And I made clear my severe concern in regards to the dire humanitarian state of affairs there.”
Along with calling for a Palestinian state, Harris urged each Israel and Hamas to conform to a ceasefire and launch hostages to finish the battle, which started with Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel. “As I simply advised Prime Minister Netanyahu, it’s time to get this deal achieved,” she asserted.
Harris’s forthright stance contrasts sharply with the sooner amicable alternate between Biden and Netanyahu, regardless of underlying tensions and questions on Biden’s affect. Netanyahu praised Biden, saying, “From a proud Zionist Jew to a proud Zionist Irish American, I need to thanks for 50 years of public service and 50 years of help for the State of Israel. And I sit up for discussing with you right this moment and dealing with you within the months forward.”
Whereas Harris has beforehand been extra vocal about Gaza than Biden, White Home officers preserve there isn’t a important coverage divergence between them. The White Home acknowledged that Biden would emphasize the necessity for “compromise” in a deal, following Netanyahu’s assertive speech to the US Congress.
Biden and Netanyahu additionally met with households of US hostages held in Gaza, who expressed cautious optimism a few potential new ceasefire proposal. “We really feel most likely extra optimistic than we now have for the reason that first spherical of releases in late November,” mentioned Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Protests erupted exterior the White Home, echoing the demonstrations throughout Netanyahu’s Congressional tackle. Regardless of ongoing US navy support to Israel for the reason that October 7 assaults, relations with Netanyahu have been strained by Israel’s battle conduct and suspicions of stalling on a peace deal.
The Hamas assault on October 7 resulted in 1,197 deaths in Israel, predominantly civilians, with 111 of the 251 hostages taken nonetheless held in Gaza. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has resulted in no less than 39,175 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, based on the territory’s well being ministry.







Source link