Harris tells Netanyahu 'it is time' to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday said she urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal soon with Hamas so that dozens of hostages held by the militants in Gaza since Oct. 7 can return home.

Harris said she had a “frank and constructive” conversation with Netanyahu in which she affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself but also expressed deep concern about the high death toll in Gaza over nine months of war and the “dire” humanitarian situation there.

With all eyes on the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Harris largely reiterated President Joe Biden's longstanding message that it's time to find an endgame to the brutal war in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have died. Yet she offered a more forceful tone about the urgency of the moment just one day after Netanyahu gave a fiery speech to Congress in which he defended the war, vowed “total victory” against Hamas and made relatively scant mention of cease-fire negotiations.

“There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” Harris told reporters shortly after meeting with Netanyahu. “And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done.”

Netanyahu met separately earlier in the day with Biden, who has also been calling on Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement on a U.S.-backed, three-phase deal to bring home remaining hostages and establish an extended cease-fire.

The White House said in a statement that Biden discussed with Netanyahu “the need to close the remaining gaps, finalize the deal as soon as possible, bring the hostages home, and reach a durable end to the war in Gaza.” Biden and Netanyahu also discussed improving the flow of aid into Gaza as well as the ongoing threat posed by Iranian-backed militant groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Harris said after her meeting with Netanyahu that Israel’s war in Gaza is more complicated than simply being supportive of one side or the other.

“Too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but,” Harris said.

Harris also condemned Hamas' brutality. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby reiterated the administration position that the militant group that killed some 1,200 on Oct. 7 and kidnapped 250 people from Israel ultimately holds responsibility for the suffering in Gaza and must come to terms with Israel.

Kirby added that gaps between the two sides can be closed “but there are issues that need to be resolved that will require some leadership, some compromise."

With Harris' forceful comments, the administration also appeared to be stepping up pressure on the Israelis to not let the moment pass to get a deal done.

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

Thousands protested Netanyahu’s visit in Washington, and Harris condemned those who were violent or used rhetoric that praised Hamas.

Netanyahu, last at the White House when former President Donald Trump was in office, is headed to Florida on Friday to meet with the Republican presidential nominee.

Ahead of the Harris-Netanyahu meeting Thursday, Trump said at a rally in North Carolina the vice president was “totally against the Jewish people."

Harris has long spoken of her strong support for Israel. The first overseas trip of her Senate career in early 2017 was to Israel, and one of her first acts in office was to introduce a resolution opposing a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel.

She’s also spoken of her personal ties to Israel, including memories of raising money as a child to plant trees in Israel and installing a mezuzah near the front door of the vice president’s residence in Washington — her husband is Jewish. She also has connections to pro-Israel groups including the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the liberal J Street.

For Harris, the meeting with Netanyahu was an opportunity to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She’s being scrutinized by those on the political left who say Biden hasn’t done enough to force Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.

Harris’ last one-on-one engagement with Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she’s taken part in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.

The conservative Likud Party leader Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years. Netanyahu, in what will likely be his last White House meeting with Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they've known each other and thanked the president for his service.

“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu told Biden.

A U.S.-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases is something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.

Following their talks, Biden and Netanyahu met with the families of American hostages.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said the families received an “ironclad commitment” from Biden and Netanyahu to get the hostages home. He said he was more hopeful than at anytime since Hamas released more than 100 hostages during a temporary cease-fire in November.

“There is more reason today than in any time since the last round of hostage releases that something can happen,” he said.

Netanyahu is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He faces pressure from the families of hostages demanding a cease-fire agreement to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who demand he resist any deal that could keep Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.

In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu offered a robust defense of Israel's conduct during the war and lashed out against accusations by the International Criminal Court of Israeli war crimes. He made the case that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively keeping “Americans boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.”

“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Our fight, it’s your fight. And our victory will be your victory. ”

Netanyahu also derided protesters who massed near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran’s “useful idiots.”

Harris on Thursday said she was outraged that some protesters tagged areas near the U.S. Capitol with pro-Hamas graffiti, expressed support for the militants and burned a U.S. flag at Union Station.

“Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation,” Harris said in a statement. “I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in that way.”

Protesters massed near the White House on Thursday chanted, “Arrest Netanyahu,” and brought an effigy of the prime minister with blood on its hands and wearing an orange jumpsuit. A small number of counterprotesters wore Israeli flags around their shoulders.

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AP writer Ashraf Khalil contributed reporting.

Vice President Kamala Harris steps off of Air Force Two upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, July 25, 2024. Harris is returning to Washington from Texas and she is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP)

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appear before a meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Vice President Kamala Harris steps off of Air Force Two upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, July 25, 2024. Harris is returning to Washington from Texas and she is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool via AP)

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre looks on as White House national security communications advisor John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing at the White House, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, as House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., and Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin, D-Md., listen. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

U.S. Capitol police watch demonstrators marching outside of the U.S. Capitol as they protest the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a joint meeting of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, as House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., and Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin, D-Md., listen. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday’s presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently.

Harris spent the weekend cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she focused on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate’s rules.

Meanwhile, Trump has publicly dismissed the value of studying for the debate. The former president is choosing instead to fill his days with campaign-related events.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

Donald Trump’s campaign says his unpredictability will give him a major leg up in Tuesday’s debate.

“You can’t prepare for President Trump. There’s just no way to do it,” senior campaign adviser Jason Miller told reporters during a call on Monday, comparing the challenge facing Vice President Kamala Harris to “a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhmmad Ali.”

“You just, you don’t know what angle they’re going to come at you with,” he said.

Still, aides said, Trump will be focused on trying to tie Harris to the least popular Biden administration policies. Trump will try to blame her not only for border, inflation and foreign policy decisions, but other things that happened while she was in office, such as the catastrophic fire in Maui last year.

“Kamala Harris owns everything from this administration,” Miller said.

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who competed against Harris in the 2020 Democratic primaries and has been helping Trump prepare, said that his tone will not change this time because he is facing a woman.

“President Trump respects women and doesn’t feel the need to be patronizing or to speak to women in any other way than he would speak to a man," she said. “So he is speaking to the American people, he is speaking to Kamala Harris’ record, and comparing and contrasting that with his record of success.”

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the ballot in the battleground state, potentially dealing a marginal blow to Trump’s campaign.

Kennedy, who suspended his third-party presidential campaign in August, had sought to have his name dropped from the ballot so as to not siphon away votes from Trump, whom he endorsed. Kennedy sued the Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, on Aug. 30, and the case quickly made it’s way to the state Supreme Court.

“This plainly has nothing to do with ballot or election integrity,” Kennedy’s attorney Aaron Siri said in a written statement. “The aim is precisely the opposite — to have unwitting Michigan voters throw away their votes on a withdrawn candidate.”

▶ Read more on the Michigan court decision

Trump signaled support for reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a post on his social media platform late Sunday, putting his position in line with that of Harris.

The commonality reflects a major shift toward broad public support for legalization in recent years and marks the first time that both major-party presidential candidates support broad cannabis reform, according to the U.S. Cannabis Council.

Coming shortly before the two will meet for a pivotal debate, Trump’s post sets up the possibility that he could criticize Harris for her past cannabis prosecutions when she was district attorney in San Francisco. Because drug prosecutions disproportionately affect nonwhite defendants in the U.S., the line of attack could also fit with Trump’s efforts to increase his support among nonwhite men.

Harris backs decriminalization and has called it “absurd” that the Drug Enforcement Administration now has marijuana in the Schedule I category alongside heroin and LSD. Earlier in her career, she oversaw the enforcement of cannabis laws and opposed legalized recreational use for adults in California while running for attorney general in 2010.

▶ Read more about Trump’s stance on marijuana

Speaking in Detroit, Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told a gathering of local election officials from around the country Monday that she was inspired by their commitment to overseeing “safe, secure, free, fair elections.”

She said their tireless efforts also should give Americans confidence that every vote will be “counted as cast.”

Easterly acknowledged that election offices are facing numerous threats, from cybersecurity to intimidation of their workers. But she said their extensive preparations will ensure “that we are ready for whatever lies ahead.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would be watching Tuesday from New York, where he’s traveling ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Biden’s disastrous performance in the June 27 debate with Trump touched off a chorus of calls by fellow Democrats for him to step aside in the 2024 presidential race. He did about a month later. Harris became the Democratic nominee and she’ll face Trump this time. Jean-Pierre said Biden was very proud of his vice president.

The debate begins Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

Demoralized by the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinian American Samia Assed found in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension — and her running mate pick — “a little ray of hope.”

That hope, she said, shattered during last month’s Democratic National Convention, where a request for a Palestinian American speaker was denied and listening to Harris left her feeling like the Democratic presidential nominee will continue the U.S. policies that have outraged many in the anti-war camp.

“I couldn’t breathe because I felt unseen and erased,” said Assed, a community organizer in New Mexico.

Under different circumstances, Assed would have reveled in the groundbreaking rise of a woman of color as her party’s nominee. Instead, she agonizes over her ballot box options.

For months, many Palestinian Americans have been contending with the double whammy of the rising Palestinian death toll and suffering in Gaza and their own government’s support for Israel in the war. Alongside pro-Palestinian allies, they’ve grieved, organized, lobbied and protested as the killings and destruction unfolded on their screens or touched their own families. Now, they also wrestle with tough, deeply personal voting decisions, including in battleground states.

▶ Read more about Palestinian Americans and the election

He claimed she would raise taxes and accused her of supporting open border policies that would allow an influx of unvetted migrants into the country. He blamed her for a litany of the current administration’s failures and cast her potential presidency as four more years of the same.

Donald Trump wasn’t facing Vice President Kamala Harris. It was Hillary Clinton on the debate stage.

As Trump and Harris prepare to debate for the first — and potentially only — time Tuesday, his three meetings with Clinton in 2016 illustrate the challenges facing both candidates in what is again shaping up to be an extremely close election.

Harris will face a skilled and experienced debater who excels at rattling his rivals with a barrage of insults and interruptions, while projecting unflappable confidence and conviction.

And Trump will be up against a longtime prosecutor known for landing pointed punches. He again faces a woman who would become the country’s first female president and must contend with the underlying gender dynamics at play.

▶ Read more about what the Trump-Clinton debate says about Trump’s style

Vice President Kamala Harris plans a four-day campaign trip through major swing states after the Democrat’s debate Tuesday with Republican Donald Trump.

Her “New Way Forward” tour will include a new television spot, rallies, canvassing events and programs designed to target important voting groups, the campaign said Sunday, adding that the tour will culminate at the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on Sept. 15.

In a tight race against the former president, the Harris campaign sees itself as having the room to persuade voters before focusing more intently on turnout with the beginning of early voting before the Nov. 5 election. Trump has also stepped up his outreach with rallies and interviews in seemingly friendly forums.

▶ Read more about Harris’s post-debate plans

When Donald Trump and Kamala Harris meet onstage Tuesday night in Philadelphia, they’ll both know there’s little debate that Pennsylvania is critical to their chances of winning the presidency.

The most populous presidential swing state has sided with the winner of the past two elections, each time by just tens of thousands of votes. Polling this year suggests Pennsylvania will be close once more in November.

A loss in the state will make it difficult to make up the electoral votes elsewhere to win the presidency. Trump and Harris have been frequent visitors in recent days — Harris plans to return Friday — and the former president was speaking in Butler County on July 14 when he was the target of an assassination attempt.

The stakes may be especially high for Harris: No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since 1948.

▶ Read more about Pennsylvania’s role in this election

From her earliest campaigns in California to her serving as President Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris has honed an aggressive but calibrated approach to debates.

She tries to blend punch lines with details that build toward a broader narrative. She might shake her head to signal her disapproval while her opponent is speaking, counting on viewers to see her reaction on a split screen.

And she has a go-to tactic to pivot debates back in her favor: saying she’s glad to answer a question as she gathers her thoughts to explain an evolving position or defend a past one.

▶ Read more about Harris’ debate style

A new Harris campaign ad airing running on Fox News on the day of the presidential debate features former Trump officials warning of what they say are the dangers of a second Donald Trump presidency.

The ad is running in Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, Florida — where Trump lives — on Tuesday.

It features clips from former Vice President Mike Pence saying he would not be endorsing Trump. Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, National Security Advisor John Bolton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley all warn against the Republican.

The presidential debate begins at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday on ABC.

If you ask Trump’s previous debate opponents what they’re watching for on Tuesday night — and we did — many say the same thing: Look out for the thing he says or does that Harris can’t possibly prepare for.

Trump is the ultimate wild card who's found tremendous political success by ignoring the traditional rules of politics. He will say or do whatever he thinks is best in the moment. And Harris, who has dedicated several days to debate prep, can’t make a plan for everything.

At this point, it’s hard to imagine Trump surprising anyone with new material. He has praised dictators, talked about genitalia size, suggested suspending the U.S. Constitution and said that Harris only recently “turned Black.”

Trump’s own team doesn’t know what he’ll do or say on any given day. That’s incredibly risky for Trump. But it also puts enormous pressure on Harris.

Republicans hope Trump makes immigration a defining issue of the debate.

The GOP has effectively condemned the Biden administration’s handling of illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border for much of the last four years.

Harris will be eager to remind voters that Trump helped kill a bipartisan immigration bill that would have done much to fix the problem. But overall, Harris is likely to be on the defensive when the issue comes up.

Democrats, meanwhile, want to focus on abortion.

Trump, of course, appointed three Supreme Court justices who later overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected a woman’s right to choose abortion. Trump has repeatedly said he was proud that Roe was defeated. But aware that such a view isn’t popular among many women, he has tried to moderate his stance on the divisive issue.

Harris won’t make that easy. Stating the obvious, as a woman, she is positioned to be a much more effective messenger on the issue than Biden was. And Trump can’t afford to lose many more female voters.

There will, of course, be an obvious gender dynamic on stage Tuesday night.

The candidates — who have never met in person before — will be expected to stay behind their podiums on Tuesday night. But Republicans are hopeful Trump will avoid any other provocations like pointing, yelling or otherwise approaching Harris in a way that might be off-putting to suburban women or other swing voters.

Harris, too, will face unique challenges related to her race and gender as voters consider whether to make her the nation’s first female president. Some voters still say they’re not comfortable with the idea. If she comes across as angry, she risks playing into racist tropes about Black women.

While the gender dynamic looms, do not underestimate the significance of their age difference, either.

Harris is almost two decades younger than the 78-year-old Trump. Age was viewed as a political advantage for Trump when he was facing the 81-year-old Biden, but the situation is now reversed against the 59-year-old Harris. If he wins, Trump would be the oldest U.S. president ever elected.

FILE - Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., participates in the vice presidential debate with Vice President Mike Pence, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Aug. 17, 2024, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

In this combination photo, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a debate, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, left, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo)

The Latest: Harris and Trump are prepping for the debate but their strategies are vastly different

The Latest: Harris and Trump are prepping for the debate but their strategies are vastly different