04 March 2024; MEMO: The United States’ Vice President, Kamala Harris, has called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza, in the most direct and open condemnation by a senior member of the Biden administration of Israel’s war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
During a speech on Sunday marking the violent suppression of civil rights protesters by police in Alabama on 7 March 1965, Vice President Harris stated that due to “the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.” That would help to “get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.”
Calling for Israel to do more to allow the delivery of aid into Gaza, including through opening new border crossings and committing not to impose “unnecessary restrictions”, as “People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act”. Harris stated that the “Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”
READ: Ceasefire in Gaza would not necessarily extend to Lebanon: US envoy
She also notably addressed the killing of over 100 Palestinians as they tried to access food aid in Gaza City on Thursday, saying that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” and that “our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy”.
Although the Vice President called on Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, to accept the terms of a ceasefire deal, which US officials claim to have been broadly accepted by Israel, her remarks are the clearest condemnation of Israel’s war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza by a senior official from President Joe Biden’s administration, as well as the highest-ranking condemnation coming from her position.
“Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” Harris said.
Her comments came a day before she was due to meet with former Israeli army chief and defence minister – and key member of Israel’s war cabinet – Benny Gantz to discuss the ongoing war on Gaza.
