WASHINGTON (Bernama-Anadolu) – United States (US) Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that she expressed concern about the situation in the Gaza Strip to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the White House.
“I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there, with over two million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity,” Anadolu Agency quoted Harris during a press conference after the closed-door meeting with Netanyahu.
The meeting came a day after Netanyahu addressed a joint session of the US Congress, where he claimed that the war in Gaza has “one of the lowest ratios of combatants to non-combatant casualties in the history of urban warfare.”
Harris said that what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is “devastating.”
“The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time.
“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent,” she added.
With her remarks, Harris reflected a major shift in Gaza policy, while urging Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire in the besieged enclave.
“Thanks to the leadership of our president, Joe Biden, there is a deal on the table for a ceasefire and a hostage deal. I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu it is time to get this deal done,” she added.
On May 31, Biden said that Israel presented a three-phase deal that would end hostilities in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held in the coastal enclave. The plan includes a ceasefire, a hostage-prisoner exchange and the reconstruction of Gaza.
“Let’s get the deal done to get a ceasefire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home, and let’s provide much-needed relief to the Palestinian people,” Harris said.
Harris also stressed that she remains committed to a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
