Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza in the second phase of the hostage deal, Vice President Kamala Harris said in statements she delivered to the press in the aftermath of her meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House late Thursday afternoon.
“To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you,” Harris said.
Earlier today, I delivered remarks to press about my meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. pic.twitter.com/lNLSaufIvK
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 26, 2024
She echoed the sentiment of optimism out of Washington about the possibility of securing the release of the remaining 115 hostages.
“There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” Harris said as she referenced the three-phase proposal US President Joe Biden had laid out at the White House on May 31.
“The first phase of the deal would bring about a full ceasefire, including a withdrawal of the Israeli military from population centers in Gaza,” Harris stated.
Ceasefire deal plan
“In the second phase, the Israeli military would withdraw from Gaza entirely, and it would lead to a permanent end to hostilities,” she stated.
“It’s time for this war to end and to end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, and self-determination,” Harris stated.
“Let’s get the deal done so we can get a cease-fire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home, and let’s provide much-needed relief to the Palestinian people.”
Her six-minute statement marks her first words on Israel since she became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on Sunday when Biden withdrew from the race.
From the time she collected money to plant trees in Israel as a child to her time in the White House, Harris said, she has “had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the State of Israel, to its security and to the people of Israel.”
She pledged that she would “always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”
“I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating, Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.”
She underscored that Hamas was a “brutal terror organization” that triggered the Gaza war when it attacked Israel on October 7, “massacring 1,200 innocent people” including 44 Americans and there are American citizens who remain in captivity in Gaza.
Harris highlighted Hamas’s “horrific acts of sexual violence” on that day.
Still, she said, the impact of the war on the Palestinians in Gaza has been devastating.
“I also expressed to the Prime Minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.
“And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there with over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food impurity,” she stated.
She recalled the harsh images of that war 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,” Harris said.
With regard to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Harris said she remained committed to a two-state solution.
She also urged the American public to “remember the war in Gaza is not a binary issue” and to acknowledge the region’s complexity.
“Let us all condemn terrorism and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians. And let us condemn anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and hate of any kind,” Harris stated.
Earlier in the day, she also condemned the burning of American flags by protesters on Wednesday when Netanyahu addressed Congress.
Thousands had demonstrated outside the Capitol on Wednesday in a protest in which police used pepper spray on marching protesters as they reached a police blockade. About a mile away from that spot, some demonstrators later hoisted Palestinian flags and burned American ones, an act condemned by top US leaders, including Harris.
“I condemn the burning of the American flag,” Harris said in a statement. “It should never be desecrated in that way.”
Her statement also condemned pro-Hamas graffiti and made no mention of police using pepper spray on protesters.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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