Harris says US will not stop ‘pressure’ on Israel for ceasefire

The United States will not ease its “pressure” on Israel and Arab leaders to reach a deal on hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview released Sunday.

Washington is working with Israel on humanitarian aid and “the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire. And we’re not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders,” Harris told CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “not listening,” CBS’ Bill Whitaker suggested to Harris in an excerpt from the interview, which is due to air in full on Monday. The Democratic presidential candidate argued that US efforts have “resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”

Referring to an Iranian missile strike on Israel, she insisted that it was “our imperative to do what we can to allow Israel to defend itself against those kinds of attacks.” Israel is on high alert ahead of the anniversary on Monday of Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Israel has now turned its focus northward to Hezbollah, Hamas’s Iran-backed ally in Lebanon, and has vowed to avenge the Iranian missile attack. Last year’s October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militants resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,870 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry and described as reliable by the UN.

When asked by Whitaker if the US has a “real, close ally” in Netanyahu, Harris responded that the “better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?””And the answer to that question is yes.”