The vice-president called for a ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages, in comments that appeared to be the strongest yet by a US leader on Gaza
The Guardian | Staff / Reuters and Associated Press | 4 March 2024
Well that’s then end of her career – at last an American leader prepared to call out Israel no matter the cost – Mark
US vice-president Kamala Harris has bluntly called out Israel for not doing enough to ease a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza as the Biden administration faces increasing pressure to rein in its close ally while it wages war with Hamas militants.
Harris, speaking on Sunday in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where state troopers beat US civil rights marchers nearly six decades ago, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in return for a 6-week cessation of hostilities.
But she directed the bulk of her comments at Israel in what appeared to be the sharpest rebuke yet by a senior leader in the US government over the conditions in the coastal enclave.
“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said at an event to commemorate the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Alabama.
“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” Harris said.
Her comments reflected intense frustration within the US government about the war, which has hurt president Joe Biden’s standing with left-leaning voters as he seeks re-election this year.
Harris said Israel must open new border crossings, not impose “unnecessary restrictions” on aid delivery, protect humanitarian personnel and convoys from becoming targets, and work to restore basic services and promote order so that “more food, water and fuel can reach those in need.“
The United States carried out its first airdrop of aid into Gaza on Saturday and Harris is scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday at the White House, where she is expected to deliver a similarly direct message.
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