(Washington) Joe Biden and Kamala Harris expressed support for Israel on Monday, a year after the unprecedented Hamas attack, while calling for an elusive peace in the Middle East, as the conflict could influence the presidential election next month.
“I remain fully committed to the security of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist,” the American president said in a statement.
“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict,” he added.
“I will never forget the horror of October 7, 2023,” said the vice-president, Democratic candidate for the White House, in a separate statement.
She said she was “heartbroken by the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year,” adding: “I will always fight so that Palestinians can realize their right to dignity, freedom, security and self-determination.
His Republican rival, Donald Trump, is also scheduled to participate in ceremonies in New York and Miami.
“The atrocities […] of October 7 would never have taken place if President Trump was still in the White House,” his campaign team said in a statement, deeming it “imperative” that he win the election in order to “end the bloodbath caused by the Iranian terrorist regime, which is stronger and richer today because of the weakness and incompetence of the Biden-Harris administration. »
Candle
The American president participated in a somber and brief ceremony at the White House.
With his eyes closed at times, he listened to a funeral prayer chanted by a rabbi, family friend of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and whose body was found on October 1er september. After a moment of silence, he lit a candle in memory of the victims.
Vice President Kamala Harris, a candidate for the White House, plans to plant a tree to mark the first anniversary of the massacre perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamist movement in Israel.
The commemorations also highlight the apparent powerlessness of the Biden administration to influence the conduct of the war waged for a year by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Joe Biden like Kamala Harris affirmed that a “diplomatic solution” remains the “only possible path” towards a broader peace, at a time when Israel is also shelling Lebanon to attack Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, and says it is preparing a responds after the attack on Iran last Tuesday.
The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, including hostages who died in captivity.
Demonstrations
In response, the Israeli army launched a powerful offensive in the Gaza Strip with the aim of destroying Hamas, in power there since 2007.
Since then, entire sectors of the Palestinian territory have been reduced to ruins, almost all of its 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced and at least 41,909 Palestinians have been killed there, the majority civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government, deemed reliable by the UN.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are expected in New York and several American cities.
Since the Hamas attack, the war in the Middle East has not only continually weighed on the American electoral campaign, but it could also influence the result of the November 5 vote.
The vice-president is walking on eggshells, having succeeded as party candidate to Joe Biden whose frank support displayed from the outset for the Israeli Prime Minister caused him to alienate part of the left wing and American Muslims.
The anniversary comes at a time when everyone fears a regional conflagration while awaiting the Israeli response to Iran.
The American president on Friday advised Israel against attacking Iranian oil sites, also saying he was opposed to any strike targeting Iranian nuclear power. Conversely, Donald Trump said on Friday that Israel should “strike” Iranian nuclear facilities.