Harris urges Netanyahu to alleviate Gaza's suffering: 'I will not be silent'

US Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.

"It is time for this war to end," Harris said in a televised statement after she held face-to-face talks with Netanyahu.

Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the election race on Sunday, did not mince words about the humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza after nine months of war between Israel and Hamas militants.

"We cannot allow ourselves to be numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent," she said.

Harris' remarks were sharp and serious in tone and raised the question of whether she would be more aggressive in dealing with Netanyahu if elected president on Nov. 5. But analysts do not expect there would be a major shift in US policy toward Israel, Washington's closest ally in the Middle East.

Netanyahu will meet Harris' Republican rival, Donald Trump, on Friday at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

"There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal, and as I just told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done," Harris said.

Although, as vice president, she has mostly echoed Biden in firmly backing Israel's right to defend itself, she made clear on Thursday that she was losing patience with Israel's military approach.

"Israel has a right to defend itself. And how it does so matters," Harris said.

In a nod to those concerns, Harris urged Americans to help "encourage efforts to understand the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region."

"To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you," she said. "Let's get the deal done so we can get a ceasefire to end the war."

Reuters