Written by Andrea Shalal
DETROIT (Reuters) – The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, on Saturday reiterated her call for an end to Israel's war in Gaza and said it was important to seize the opportunity given by the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was the mastermind of the October 7 attack.
Harris acknowledged that there are still challenges to be faced but told reporters that he will continue to push for an end to the conflict.
“This creates an opportunity that I believe we must take full advantage of – to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home,” he said.
“As it relates to the issues of the Middle East and especially in that region, it has never been easy. But that does not mean we are giving up. It will always be difficult. We will not give up.”
Harris sidestepped the question of whether Arab American and Muslim anger over US support for Israel's continued bombing of Gaza and more recently Lebanon could cost him the election in the battleground state of Michigan, but said he would continue to speak out about the tragic loss of innocent lives. lives.
“I speak publicly all the time about the fact that there is a lot of sad news coming out of Gaza,” Harris said, also referring to the first attack by Hamas Oct. 7 in Israel.
“The most important thing as we look at this moment, … is to acknowledge the tragedy of what happened in Gaza, in terms of the incredible number of innocent Palestinians killed, and take that seriously and speak the truth about that,” he said.
Harris and Trump are tied in highly competitive states like Michigan, with just 17 days until the November 5 election.
Harris will need strong results in the largely non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and the surrounding areas – both with large Arab American and Muslim populations – to repeat US President Joe Biden's 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia. Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 155,000 votes.
Harris on Friday won the endorsement of 50 prominent Lebanese-Americans, who said the US had been “relentless” in supporting Lebanon under the Biden administration and that they expect more support if Harris wins in November.
The approval came amid an ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon that has killed at least 2,350 people in the past year, according to Lebanon's health ministry, and displaced more than 1.2 million people. The Hezbollah attack has killed 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians, according to Israel.
The death toll has risen in Gaza after the October 7 attack that killed around 1,200 people, and captured another 253, according to Israeli figures. Israel's military response to Gaza has killed more than 42,500 people, Palestinian officials say.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
