US Vice President Kamala Harris said there must be an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, and called on the Israeli government to do more to increase the flow of aid, “without excuses.”
Mrs. Harris He said a six-week ceasefire would free the Israeli hostages and bring a large amount of aid into the war-torn Palestinian territories.
She said that people are “starving”. Israel There is a need to increase the flow of aid to alleviate what it described as “inhumane” conditions and a “humanitarian catastrophe.” Her comments are among the strongest statements made by a senior US official regarding the crisis.
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The vice president also said there was “a deal on the table.” agitation “Need to agree to that.”
“Let's reach a ceasefire. Let's reunite the hostages with their families. Let's provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” she said.
Although a Hamas delegation was in Egypt to participate in the recent truce talks, Israel reportedly boycotted them.
Israeli media say the reason behind this is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Hamas did not receive an answer to two questions: the list of hostages living there Gaza The number of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants to release for each hostage.
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On Tuesday, Harris is scheduled to meet with senior Israeli politician Benny Gantz, who will also hold talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
Although Gantz is a member of Netanyahu's war cabinet, he is also a centrist political rival and is believed to have been rebuked by the Israeli prime minister over those planned discussions in America.
An official from Netanyahu's Likud party said that Gantz's visit was not authorized by the leader.
The prime minister had a “difficult conversation” with Gantz about the trip and told him that the country has “only one prime minister,” according to the official.
(LR) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war cabinet member Benny Gantz. File photo: Reuters
The official added that Gantz informed the prime minister of his intention to travel to the United States and coordinate messages with him.
US efforts in the region have been increasingly hampered by Netanyahu's hardline government, dominated by ultra-nationalists. Gantz's more moderate party sometimes acts as a counterweight to the prime minister's far-right allies.
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The United States carries out an airdrop of initial aid in Gaza
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There are deep differences between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over how to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and reach a post-war vision for the Strip.
on saturday, The United States dropped air aid into Gaza After dozens of Palestinians rushed to bring food from trucks They were killed last Thursday.
Speaking on Sunday in Selma, Alabama, Harris said: “People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our shared humanity compels us to act.”
“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. There are no excuses.”
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A senior American official had said The path to a ceasefire was “direct and there is an agreement on the table.”With the mediators returning to Egypt in the hope of reaching an agreement before the start of Ramadan in a week.
The unnamed official spoke to Reuters news agency ahead of the talks in Cairo, which are described as the final hurdle to a six-week ceasefire.
Earlier on Sunday, the United States said the agreement had been “accepted by Israel in one way or another” and was awaiting approval from Hamas activists.
But after the arrival of the Hamas delegation, a Palestinian official said that the agreement “has not yet been reached.” Hamas also reportedly wanted a permanent ceasefire to be part of any agreement.
The war began after Hamas launched a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking more than 250 others hostage.
Israel responded with strikes and a military ground offensive in Gaza that has so far killed more than 30,000 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
About 80% of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and UN agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.
More than 100 hostages have been released in Gaza.
