US Vice President calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
US Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire “for at least the six weeks” on March 2, The New York Times reported.
The Democrat establishment have been backed into a corner over their stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict by their traditional base as well as the left-wing element of the party. Some have cited that they would not be putting a cross in a box for Biden come November 2024 due to his administration’s previous reluctance to call for a permanent ceasefire.
There are speculations that the issue will spark at civil war within the Democratic Party and may give undoubted Republican frontrunner Donald Trump an open goal in the Presidential Elections.
Mrs Harris was speaking at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama to commemorate the hundreds of peaceful activists being brutally stifled by police on March 7, 1965 whilst marching.
The Vice President said, “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire, for at least the next six weeks, which is currently on the table.”
READ: US vetoes Algeria’s resolution for Gaza ceasefire
She delivered her remarks a few hours prior to Hamas officials arriving in Cairo, alongside Qatari and American mediators, for talks on efforts to broker an agreement which would result in a halt in the fighting a six-week period.
It is believed that the ceasefire talks are still ongoing, and that no serious breakthrough has been made yet.
Israel, who have been absent in the discussions in the Egyptian capital, says it is purely interested in a temporary truce during which more hostages, of which 130 are still in the war-torn Gaza, would be freed.
Prior to the Cairo talks, President Biden said that he was hopeful of a six-week halt in the fighting and before the US airdrop into the enclave, he expressed concern at the lack of aid being let in.
When asked by a reporter as to when he thought a temporary ceasefire would come into action, Biden said, “Well I hope by the beginning of the weekend (March 2), at least my national security advisor tells me that we’re close (to an agreement), we’re not done yet. I hope by next Monday (March 4), we’ll have a ceasefire.”
Washington’s calls for a halt in the fighting comes just a few days before Ramadan. The holy month will begin on March 10 and will come to a close on April 8.
The New York Times/ Al Jazeera
