US presidential election: How Vice President Kamala Harris differs from President Joe Biden on the Israel-Gaza conflict

Following US President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw his candidacy for the presidential election on November 5, the role has now fallen to his Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has been under scrutiny since July and there is wild speculation about her stance on numerous issues, including the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

The conflict has now lasted for eleven months and there is no sign of a relaxation. Several attempts to reach a peaceful ceasefire have failed and the death toll continues to rise: around 42,000 people have been killed so far – over 40,000 in Palestine and almost 1,500 in Israel. And the conflict is escalating.

When he was running for re-election, Biden had vehemently stated that he supported Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, the terrorist organization whose attack on October 8 last year killed more than 200 Israelis. Biden is the most pro-Israel president to ever sit in the White House, according to TIME Magazine.

Now when we come to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, things seem to be a little different.

HARRIS' ATTITUDE

Harris, however, maintains that her stance on the conflict is consistent with Biden's. According to TIME Magazine, she supports Israel's right to self-defense and was the first senior government official to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

She openly criticized the Israeli government for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip, noting that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

Even after a recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris highlighted the deaths of “far too many innocent civilians,” adding that she “will not remain silent about the suffering in Palestine.”

Following the death of American activist in the West Bank, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Harris is now inclined to put pressure on Israel to reach a ceasefire agreement.

During the presidential debate with her opponent and former President Donald Trump, Harris maintained this stance, recognizing Israel's right to fight Hamas but lamenting the loss of life in Palestine.

“Let us understand how we got here. On October 7, the terrorist organization Hamas slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, many of them young people who were simply attending a concert where women were brutally raped. So Israel has absolutely the right to defend itself; we would do that too,” she said. “And how it does that is important, because it is also true that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end, it must end immediately, and it will only end if we need a ceasefire and get the hostages released. So we will continue to work on that 24/7,” she said.