US position on Gaza finally hardening as split with Netanyahu grows

Kamala Harris has a frank message for Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet – that conditions in Gaza are a humanitarian catastrophe, that more aid needs to make it into the besieged territory, and that there needs to be an immediate ceasefire.

The US vice-president told reporters as much as she left a political event in Washington on Monday, not long before she was scheduled to meet with Gantz, an opposition rival of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House.

Asked what she planned to talk about, she replied that they would discuss getting the hostage deal done, getting aid into the territory, and “getting that six-week ceasefire”.

The sit-down between the pair was preceded by a speech from Harris that laid this all out. It was some of the strongest language to come from a US official in relation to Israel’s war on Hamas inside Gaza, as the Biden administration comes under increasing pressure to rein in its close ally as the Palestinian death toll mounts.

That is not to say that Harris did not have harsh words in regard to Hamas, whose bloody attack inside Israel on 7 October killed around 1,200 people while another 250 were taken hostage. Harris said that the militants need to release all the hostages they still hold in return for a ceasefire that lasts for at least the next six weeks.

But she directed the bulk of her comments at Israel. The military response to the Hamas attack, via air, ground and a blockade, has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run strip.

“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said. “The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” she added.

White House officials say the vice-president’s remarks were tailored to reflect administration policy, and pointed to statements from Joe Biden in recent days including remarks he made during a Friday sit-down with Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni.

Like Harris, Biden himself called for an “immediate ceasefire” and stressed the need to surge aid to Gaza. It’s a small but important shift in language from even a few weeks ago, when administration officials routinely called for a “pause” in fighting rather than a “ceasefire”.

When pressed on whether there is any daylight between herself and Biden, the vice-president stressed their unity on the matter, telling reporters: “The president and I have been aligned and consistent from the very beginning.”

Yet the subtle change in the American leaders’ language reflects the way in which frustration has been growing for weeks within Washington towards Netanyahu’s hardline stance towards a future Palestinian state, with a two-state solution having been US policy in the Middle East for decades.

The fact that it is Gantz who is attending the meeting is sign enough that the Biden administration is willing to work all angles on the issue within the Israeli government. Gantz leads a centrist party, but joined right-wing Netanyahu’s emergency cabinet last year as a show of unity against the threat Israel was facing from Hamas.

“This is not a political partnership I am in,” he told a group of journalists in a briefing last year. “There is no way I would stand aside and play with politics under such circumstances.”

While Gantz has been as adamant as any other leading politician in Israel that the war in Gaza can only end when Hamas is destroyed, he is far more open to dialogue with the Palestinians than are Netanyahu and his hardline allies from the settler movement, such as finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

As for Netanyhu, there is increasingly the feeling that his own motivations are defining his actions. Surveys show that Gantz’s National Unity Party is the clear favourite to come out on top in any Israeli election that were held today, with a majority of voters judging that Netanyahu’s main motivation for continuing the war is his own political survival, according to a Channel 13 poll on Monday.

Hamas and Egyptian mediators also said on Monday that they were pressing on with talks to try to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, despite an Israeli decision not to send a delegation. Israel has declined to comment publicly on the Cairo talks, including its decision not to attend. A source had told Reuters that Israel would stay away because Hamas refused a request to list which hostages are still alive, information Hamas says it will provide only once terms are agreed. “Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal,” Harris said on Sunday.

It is clear that the trip to Washington by Gantz, who will also meet with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk before holding talks with secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday, has touched a nerve for Netanyahu and his allies. Anonymous briefers have told Israeli outlets that “there is only one prime minister”, and the media have reported that Netanyahu forbid Israel’s ambassador in the United States from supporting the visit.

“It’s a shame this trip wasn’t coordinated in advance with the prime minister,” Smotrich told a faction meeting in parliament on Monday, describing Gantz as a “weak link” in the government and calling on him to openly declare his opposition to a Palestinian state.

“Gantz is playing into the hands of the Biden administration, and is actually promoting their plan to establish a Palestinian state,” Smotrich added.

For the US, the worsening humanitarian situation has led to a hardening of rhetoric, with international pressure growing for action. A first airdrop of food to Palestinians, which the administration called a success, was carried out over the weekend. It is the latest sign that Washington is moving beyond diplomacy with Israel – and more drops are planned.

Harris has been clear that the US wants to see more action from Israel that isn’t just military. But will Netanyahu listen?

Reuters contributed to this report