U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has called out Israel for not doing enough to ease a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as the Biden administration faces increasing pressure to rein in its close ally while it wages war with Hamas militants.
Harris, speaking in front of the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in return for a 6-week cessation of hostilities.
She directed the bulk of her comments at Israel in what appeared to be the sharpest rebuke yet by a senior leader in the U.S. government over the conditions in the coastal enclave.
Meanwhile, the United States carried out its first air drop of aid in Gaza on Saturday and Harris is scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet member, Benny Gantz today at the white house, where she is expected to deliver a similarly direct message.
