Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is facing awkward questions from critics after the bodies of the six Israeli hostages were recovered overnight Sunday from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
When Israel was looking to invade Rafah earlier this year, saying it was a stronghold of Hamas militants and a haven for hostage takers, it encountered fierce opposition in the White House.
In March, Biden told MSNBC‘s Jonathan Capehart that a major Israeli operation in Rafah would be a “red line” for him, and the president suggested that the move could lead to a cut-off of some offensive weapons. Harris told ABC News in March, “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you something, I have been studying the maps.” She also said that she would not rule out “consequences” if Israel pushed forward.
Newsweek emailed the Harris campaign Sunday night for comment. This article will be updated with any provided statements.
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Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during their invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between of deaths of civilians and combatants. Hamas took approximately 250 hostages including American citizens. Israel says about 100 remain with Hamas, about two thirds of whom are still alive.
In an appearance Sunday on Meet the Press, Republican Senator Tom Cotten, of Arkansas, took Biden and Harris to task over their Rafah stances.
“But I think we should note that these hostages were discovered in the tunnels under Rafah. That’s where Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put pressure on Israel not to enter for months, using arms embargo to try to keep them from entering,” he said. “Kamala Harris even said that Israel shouldn’t enter Rafah because she had ‘studied the maps.'”
Cotten continued, “What the Biden-Harris administration should’ve done from the beginning is not pressure Israel to restrain its response but let Israel win from the very outset. For 11 months, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have put more pressure on Israel than they’ve put on Hamas and Iran and Iran’s other terror proxies.”
Joe Biden has stood firmly with Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the deadliest on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
While Harris’ positions have largely mirrored his for years, her rhetoric on Israel has come in increasing scrutiny since she replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket this summer. Harris’ expression of support for the Palestinian statehood was probably her biggest applause line at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago this month, reflecting not only sympathy for Palestinians among the Democratic base but also the tough contest she faces in the swing state of Michigan, home to the largest Arab-American population in the US.
“And let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris said at the DNC. “Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7.”
Harris also addressed the issue of the ongoing war in Gaza. She didn’t criticize Israel’s actions in war, but called the loss of lives “devastating,” and she characterized the “scale of suffering” as “heartbreaking.”
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.
This is not the first time Harris’s conservative critics have pounced on her past statements to portray her as an inept steward of foreign policy in an unstable world created, they say, by Biden’s approach to international relations.
A Harris clip expressing satisfaction with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which later proved to be a disaster for the United States, was widely circulated on social media as the third anniversary of the end of America’s longest war approached in August.
The Biden administration has been pushing Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire deal that would allow all hostages to be freed, a position that is increasingly popular in Israel. Protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities on Sunday criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government’s failure to secure a hostage release deal
In a statement on Sunday, former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also placed the blame on Biden and Harris over the hostage deaths, which included 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“We grieve the senseless death of the Israeli Hostages, horrifically including a wonderful American Citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, murdered by Hamas due to a complete lack of American Strength and Leadership. Make no mistake – This happened because Comrade Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe Biden are poor Leaders,” Trump said.
“They have blood on their hands! Sadly, this is the total lack of ‘Leadership’ that Kamala and Biden represent – One that allows terrorists to take American lives, because they only care about Weaponizing the Department of Justice against their Political Opponent,” he continued. “Just like the Debacle of the Afghanistan Withdrawal that claimed 13 American lives, Kamala and Biden’s judgment has not only put lives at risk, but is directly responsible for unnecessary deaths that should have never happened,” Trump continued.
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Parents of Goldberg-Polin, who are American-born immigrants to Israel, emerged as the most visible family members of hostages globally. They held meetings with Biden and Pope Francis. On August 21, they even addressed the Democratic National Convention, which followed prolonged applause and cries of “bring him home.”
There are now reportedly seven American hostages still being held by Hamas, according to the American Jewish Committee.
Upon learning the news on Sunday, Biden expressed his devastation and outrage. The White House confirmed his interaction with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, extending his condolences.
