US Vice President Kamala Harris of the United States has expressed concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, stating that the people there are facing starvation. She has called on Israel to substantially boost the delivery of aid to the region.
She said “there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks”, which would “get the [Israeli] hostages out”.
Earlier, Israel did not attend truce talks in Egypt, saying Hamas was not giving a list of hostages still alive.
Hamas told the BBC it was unable to do so because of the Israeli bombing.
“Practically it is impossible to know who is still alive,” said Dr Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official.
For the scheduled meetings, Hamas’s delegation and US and Qatari mediators are reportedly in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
Following Thursday’s episode outside Gaza City in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, where crowds stormed an aid truck and Israeli troops opened fire, pressure for a ceasefire accord increased. At least 112 people were killed.
Speaking at an event in Alabama on Sunday, Ms Harris said: “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.
“As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
The vice president reiterated President Joe Biden’s pledge to “urgently get more life-saving assistance to innocent Palestinians in need” while highlighting how “our common humanity compels us to act.”
Ms. Harris is scheduled to meet in Washington on Monday with prominent Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz to deliberate on potential peace negotiations and bolstered humanitarian supplies for Gaza.
Ms Harris said “there is a deal on the table and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families, and let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza.”
She also said “the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”
She was addressing a crowd in Selma, Alabama, commemorating Bloody Sunday, the 1965 state trooper attack on civil rights protestors.
After Hamas members killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 and kidnapped 253 more, the Israeli military started a massive air and ground battle to destroy the organization.
Since then, at least 30,410 people—including 21,000 women and children—have died in Gaza, according to the health ministry operated by Hamas. Roughly 7,000 people have gone missing, and 71,700 have been injured.
Dr Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told the BBC’s Newshour programme on Sunday that the group was unable to provide Israel with a full list of surviving hostages.
“Practically it is impossible to know who is still alive because of the Israeli bombardment and blockage. They are in different areas with different groups.
“We have asked for a ceasefire to collect that data”, he said, adding: “we cannot accept any preconditions”. He was speaking from Istanbul.
The UK, US and their Western partners consider Iranian-backed Hamas to be a terrorist organisation.
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation that has vowed to repeat October 7th again and again until Israel is annihilated. Hamas has shown no regard for innocent life,” Kamala Harris said, insisting that “Hamas cannot control Gaza”.