'I will not remain silent', Kamala Harris urges Netanyahu to reduce suffering in Gaza

 

'I will not remain silent', Kamala Harris urges Netanyahu to reduce suffering in Gaza

US Vice President Kamala Harris has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a cease-fire agreement in Gaza to ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

According to the AFP news agency, Kamala Harris, in a televised statement after the conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister, has adopted a harsh tone unlike President Joe Biden.

The American vice president said that now is the time to end this war

Kamala Harris will likely be the candidate of the Democratic Party in the next presidential election after the withdrawal of US President Biden.

She spoke out in a harsh tone regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and said, "We cannot allow ourselves to be insensitive to such suffering and I will not remain silent."

Kamala Harris took a blunt and serious tone during the statement, which raised questions about whether she would be more aggressive in dealing with Netanyahu if elected president on Nov. 5. But analysts do not expect a major shift in US policy toward Israel, a close ally in the Middle East.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is decades old, but the most recent fighting began on October 7 last year when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Since then, more than 39,000 people have been killed in Israel's counter-attack on Gaza.

Meanwhile, about 80 percent of the buildings in this coastal area have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment, shelling and tank shelling. Millions of citizens have been displaced from their homes and there is a humanitarian crisis due to famine and lack of emergency aid.

According to a statement issued by the White House, Netanyahu first met with President Biden, in which the US president told him that he needed to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and remove obstacles to the delivery of aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will meet Kamala Harris' Republican rival Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.

A ceasefire in Gaza has been a topic of discussion between US and Israeli officials for the past several months.

US officials believe the two sides in the conflict are closer than ever to a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of women, sick, elderly and wounded hostages by Hamas.

"There has been promising progress in negotiations to reach an agreement on this deal, and as I have just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, now is the time to complete the deal," Harris said. .

While Vice President Kamala Harris has largely echoed Joe Biden in strongly supporting Israel's right to self-defense, she made clear Thursday that she is not satisfied with Israel's military approach to Gaza.

He said that Israel has the right to defend itself. And how he does it is the problem.

In March, Kamala Harris bluntly stated that Israel was not doing much to reduce the "humanitarian catastrophe" during its ground operation in Gaza. In a later statement, he also did not rule out 'consequences' for Israel for attacking a refugee camp in Rafah, Gaza.

Kamala Harris urged Americans to "encourage efforts to understand the complexity, significance and history of the region."

"To everyone who is calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who wants peace, I see you and I hear you," she said. Let's make a deal so we can have a ceasefire