United States Vice President Kamala Harris calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza

United States Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza to allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged territory and the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said in a social media post. “This will get the hostages out and get a significant amount of aid in.”

Harris said the United States should do more to increase the supply of aid to Gaza, including opening new border crossings and committing not to impose “unnecessary restrictions”.

“People in Gaza are starving,” Al Jazeera quoted her as saying during an address on Sunday. “The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act.”

Referring to a massacre on Thursday in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed as they gathered to access food aid in Gaza city, Harris said that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” while expressing her solidarity with the victims of “that horrific tragedy”.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it will investigate the deaths of Palestinians who had queued for aid in Gaza city, Reuters reported. This came a day after US National...

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