US vice president calls for immediate cease-fire in Gaza

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - US Vice President Kamala Harris called Sunday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

During remarks in Alabama to mark the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day state law officers attacked Civil Rights demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Harris said the threat posed by the Palestinian group Hamas to Israel must be eliminated.

“And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” she added.

She said the cease-fire would get hostages out and much-needed aid into Gaza.

"This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination,” she said.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.