The White House on Tuesday published a statement following US Vice President Kamala Harris’ phone call with President Isaac Herzog, which had been confirmed earlier by Herzog’s office.
“Vice President Kamala Harris today spoke with President Isaac Herzog of Israel on the one-month anniversary of Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel on October 7. They discussed the latest developments in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank,” the White House said.
“The Vice President reiterated her support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens and combat terrorism following Hamas’s horrific attack, and underscored her and President Biden’s focus on securing the release of hostages being held by Hamas,” it continued.
“The Vice President emphasized the importance of protecting civilian lives and respecting international humanitarian law. She emphasized the imperative to further increase the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
Harris, the White House statement said, “also raised the need to increase stability and security in the West Bank and hold extremist settlers accountable for violent acts.
“Beyond the current conflict, the Vice President underscored the importance of setting conditions now for a durable and sustainable peace and security with equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians. She committed to continue to work with our partners throughout the region to that end,” the White House statement concluded.
Herzog’s office said in a statement earlier that the President “thanked Vice President Harris for her call and for her support for the Israeli people, and reiterated the appreciation of the Israeli people for the steadfast support of President Biden and his administration.”
“He noted that the immediate and unconditional return of the hostages was Israel’s prime concern. He repeated Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement in the last hours, that there could be no ceasefire without the release of hostages held by Hamas, which include women, men, the elderly, children and babies as young as ten-months old,” the statement added.
The conversation marked the second time that Harris and Herzog have spoken since the start of the war against Hamas. They previously spoke a day after the fighting began.
Harris spoke to reporters last week and stressed that the US would not create any conditions for the aid it gives to Israel.
Asked whether the US should condition aid to Israel to get them to prioritize civilian harm reduction, the Vice President replied, “We are going to continue to stand with Israel’s right to defend itself. And let’s be clear and never forget what happened on October 7th, where hundreds, thousands of — 1,400 innocent people were killed, slaughtered — young people who were simply attending a concert.”
“And so, we are not going to create any conditions on the support that we are giving Israel to defend itself,” she added.