US President Joe Biden will meet Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday at the White House. The agenda for the meeting includes a discussion on ways to reach a ceasefire deal to end the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has stoked a humanitarian crisis in Gaza even as the Palestinian militant group continues to hold dozens of hostages abducted in its October 7 onslaught last year.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris, now the leading candidate to be the Democratic nominee for the upcoming presidential election, will also reportedly hold a separate meeting with Netanyahu. She will, however, not preside over Netanyahu’s address to a joint meeting of the US Congress on Wednesday. The Vice-President serves as the president of the US Senate, one of the two constituent institutions of the Congress. Her team has cited a previously scheduled event to explain her inability to preside over the session, saying it should not be construed as “a change in her position with regard to Israel”, CNN reported.
In her absence, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin will preside over the address.
Biden, who has been battling Covid-19 since last Wednesday, is set to return to Washington on Tuesday, from his beach house in Delaware, according to Reuters. His meeting with Netanyahu will be his first since he announced quitting the presidential election race last week and endorsed Harris’ candidacy.
VP Harris To Meet Netanyahu
Harris’ meeting with Netanyahu will be separate from the one he holds with Biden, according to multiple media reports.
Reuters quoted a Harris aide as saying that the Vice-President supports Israel, and will express her concerns to Netanyahu regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where Israel’s assault has reportedly killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, including children.
Citing reports from the Gaza health ministry, Reuters reported that Israel’s offensive, triggered by the October 7 Hamas assault, has flattened nearly the entire enclave, led to a hunger crisis, and displaced almost the entire population of 2.3 million.
Harris will stress to Netanyahu that it is time for the Gaza conflict to end in a way where all the hostages are released, Israel is secure, and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends so the “Palestinian people can enjoy their right to dignity, freedom and self-determination”, Reuters quoted the aide as saying.