Harris Tells Netanyahu 'It Is Time' to End Gaza War

Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that she urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal soon with Hamas so that dozens of hostages held by the militants in Gaza since Oct. 7 can return home. Harris said she had a "frank and constructive" conversation with Netanyahu in which she affirmed Israel's right to defend itself but also expressed deep concern about the high death toll in Gaza over nine months of war and the "dire" humanitarian situation there, the AP reports.

• With all eyes on the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Harris largely reiterated President Biden's longstanding message that it's time to find an endgame to the brutal war in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have died. Yet she offered a more forceful tone about the urgency of the moment just one day after Netanyahu gave a fiery speech to Congress in which he defended the war, vowed "total victory" against Hamas, and made relatively scant mention of ceasefire negotiations.

• "There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal," Harris told reporters shortly after meeting with Netanyahu. "And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done."
• Netanyahu met separately earlier in the day with Biden, who has also been calling on Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement on a US-backed, three-phase deal to bring home remaining hostages and establish an extended ceasefire.
• Harris said after her meeting with Netanyahu that Israel's war in Gaza is more complicated than simply being supportive of one side or the other, but also condemned Hamas' brutality. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby reiterated the administration's position that the militant group that killed some 1,200 on Oct. 7 and kidnapped 250 people from Israel ultimately holds responsibility for the suffering in Gaza and must come to terms with Israel.

• With Harris' forceful comments, the administration also appeared to be stepping up pressure on the Israelis to not let the moment pass to get a deal done. "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," Harris said. "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."
• Ahead of the Harris-Netanyahu meeting Thursday, Trump said at a rally in North Carolina the vice president was "totally against the Jewish people." Harris has long spoken of her strong support for Israel. The first overseas trip of her Senate career in early 2017 was to Israel, and one of her first acts in office was to introduce a resolution opposing a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)