One year after Hamas launched a deadly cross-border attack into Israel on Oct. 7, Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated her call for the war to end as the death toll climbs.
The Biden-Harris administration has pushed for a cease-fire, but the White House’s relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been tested as he charts his own course — sometimes against the urging of the president and vice president.
“We’re not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris said.
She maintained that Israel, which is still working to recover hostages taken into Gaza, has a right to defend itself, but said that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
While the bulk of Israel’s focus has been on Hamas in Gaza, Israel in late September began increasingly targeting the operations of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. For months, the group has been firing rockets into Israel from southern Lebanon. Now Israel is responding with airstrikes and, what it calls a limited ground operation into Lebanon, fueling fears of a broader war in the Middle East.
President Biden has called for a cease-fire in Lebanon, raising more questions about the relationship between Mr. Biden and Netanyahu.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people,” Harris said. “And the answer to that question is yes.”
