U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris condemned the brutal October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas and the taking of hostages, including American citizens, during a meeting Monday with Israeli war Cabinet member Benny Gantz at the White House.
Harris, who met with Gantz in a push for a six-week cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, expressed U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of ongoing Hamas terrorist threats and underscored Washington’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, a White House readout said.
Harris urged Hamas to accept the terms of the agreement, in which the release of hostages would result in an immediate six-week cease-fire and allow a surge of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
She addressed the recent tragedy in northern Gaza where civilians swarming an aid convoy for food supplies were killed by Israeli forces, calling it a “horrific tragedy.”
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 16 children have died of malnutrition in recent days as "famine spreads" to the north of the enclave.
Harris also discussed the urgency of achieving a hostage deal.
“It is important that we all understand that we’re in a window of time right now where we can actually get a hostage deal done,” she told reporters before the meeting. “We all want this conflict to end as soon as possible, and how it does, matters."
Harris and Gantz also discussed Israel’s looming military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where over a million people are sheltering. She said a viable humanitarian plan has to be implemented there before Israel decides to launch any major offensive against Hamas and expressed fears what such an operation would pose on civilians.
The U.S. has said Israel has signed off on the parameters of the cease-fire, but details have yet to be worked out in Cairo negotiations with Hamas.
Harris used a speech Sunday to issue her cease-fire call, one of the strongest appeals yet from the Biden administration to halt the war.
"Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire," Harris said to loud applause at a gathering to commemorate a major civil rights anniversary in Selma, Alabama.
"The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act," she said. "The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”
Harris also told the crowd that the “threat that Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated.”
The administration has been working with Egypt and Qatar to mediate a six-week pause in the fighting to get the remaining hostages held by Hamas out and to get scaled-up aid into Gaza, where the United Nations has warned that famine is looming.
'Powder keg'
U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Monday it is “imperative” to do everything possible to avoid a wider war, as he cited cross-border fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.
"I am deeply concerned that in this powder keg, any spark could lead to a much broader conflagration,” Türk told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. “This would have implications for every country in the Middle East and many beyond it.”
Türk said the conflict in Gaza has “already generated dangerous spillover in neighboring countries.”
He also highlighted attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea, which the Houthis have said are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Türk said the Houthi attacks have disrupted maritime trade and increased the prices of goods, which are having a significant impact on developing nations.
“There is a serious risk of the conflict extending to Yemen itself, with potentially severe harm to Yemen's people, already suffering from the humanitarian crisis generated by a decade of war,” Türk told the council.
Cease-fire talks
A delegation from Hamas was in Cairo on Sunday to discuss a possible weeks-long cease-fire in the nearly five-month war with Israel. But Israeli media reported that Israeli mediators boycotted the talks after Hamas rejected its demand for a full list of names of hostages who are still alive.
The Biden administration said it hopes to have a cease-fire deal by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins around March 10.
An agreement would bring about the first extended pause in the fighting since a week-long truce in late November. Under proposed terms, dozens of the remaining 100 or so hostages held by Hamas would be freed in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel.
A U.S. official told reporters, "The path to a cease-fire right now literally at this hour is straightforward. And there's a deal on the table. There's a framework deal."
Israel has vowed to end the threat of another Hamas assault like the October 7 terror attack on the Jewish state that killed 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s counteroffensive since then has killed more than 30,500 people in Gaza, about 70% of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
If a truce is agreed, it would enable scaled up humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the situation is growing more desperate by the day. The health ministry says at least 16 children have died of malnutrition in recent days as "famine spreads" in the north.
VOA’s Jeff Seldin and Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
