US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday that he supported President Joe Biden's decision in May to withhold a shipment of one-ton bombs from Israel because of concerns that the Israeli military would use them in densely populated areas of Gaza, the Times of Israel quoted him as saying.
"One of the things we've done that I fully support is cutting off the supply of the one-ton bombs,'' Harris said in an onstage interview at a National Association of Black Journalists event, during which she was repeatedly asked why The US is no longer using leverage against Israel to end the war in Gaza.
Harris began her response by repeating what has become something of a "standard speech" that she makes about the Israel-Hamas war when the issue is raised at campaign events.
She highlighted the brutal nature of the October 7 Hamas attack; that Israel has the right to defend itself; that it matters how you do it; that too many Palestinian civilians have been killed; that the scenes coming out of Gaza are heartbreaking; that the US is working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire and hostage-release deal to end the war as soon as possible; that there must eventually be a two-state solution to the conflict; and that Iran is not authorized to sow instability.
The delivery of 1,700 200-kilogram bombs — part of the shipment of one-ton bombs — was also put on hold until July, with Biden threatening to freeze additional assault weapons if Israel launched a major military offensive in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians were hiding at the time.
As the Rafah operation continues, the Israeli army announced last week that Hamas's Rafah Brigade had been defeated after at least 2,308 of its operatives were killed and tunnels totaling more than 13 kilometers were destroyed.
The Democratic presidential candidate added in the interview that she had engaged in talks with Israeli and Arab leaders about the post-war governance of Gaza and reiterated that there could be no further Israeli occupation of the Strip.
"I think we made it very clear, this deal has to be done in the best interest of everyone in the region, including getting these hostages out," she said, noting the execution of six hostages earlier this month by their Hamas captors in Gaza, including American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Paulin.
Months of talks have failed to reach a deal to return 101 hostages believed to be still held captive in Gaza, more than 11 months after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 men and taking 251 hostages, unleashing the ongoing war.
Although negotiations are at an impasse, the US is still working with mediators Egypt and Qatar to present a revised proposal for a ceasefire agreement between the hostages, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.