Biden, Harris mark Oct 7 with call for Mid-East peace

WASHINGTON - A somber US President Joe Biden lit a candle on Oct 7 at a Jewish ceremony of mourning to mark a year since Hamas’ attacks on Israel, as he and Vice-President Kamala Harris stepped up what have so far been futile calls for Middle Eastern peace.

Mr Biden

condemned the Oct 7 attacks

but also criticised the civilian death toll in Gaza, underscoring the tightrope that he and Democratic presidential hopeful Harris are treading on a conflict that could impact November’s US election.

In a short ceremony at the White House, the 81-year-old president and First Lady Jill Biden stood in silence as a rabbi chanted a prayer for the dead, before Mr Biden lit a single candle in memory of those killed.

“Far too many civilians have suffered far too much during this year of conflict,” Mr Biden said in a statement.

Mr Biden lashed out at the “unspeakable brutality” of the Oct 7 attacks, and said he and Ms Harris were “fully committed” to Israel’s security against Iran and its regional allies – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

But he also described Oct 7 as a “dark day for the Palestinian people”, and said he and Ms Harris “will not stop working to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza”.

Ms Harris said she was “devastated by the loss and pain of the Israeli people” but added that she was “heartbroken over the scale of death and destruction in Gaza over the past year”.

Both Mr Biden and Ms Harris said in their separate statements that a “diplomatic solution”, as Israel pounds Lebanon to tackle the Hezbollah militia, was the “only path” to a wider peace.

Ms Harris, with her husband Doug Emhoff, will separately plant a memorial tree at the vice-president’s residence in Washington, then deliver remarks at 4pm.

Republican Donald Trump, Ms Harris’ rival in a tooth-and-nail election, was due to mark the anniversary at an event in New York.

His campaign blasted Mr Biden and Ms Harris over their handling of the Middle East, saying in a statement: “It’s imperative that President Trump is re-elected so he can end the bloodshed.”

Gaza protests

Trump was also to speak later in Miami to mark the anniversary of the surprise attacks by Hamas, in which 1,206 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 251 taken hostage.

More than 41,909 people, a majority of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip since the war began, according to data provided by the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The UN has acknowledged these figures as reliable.

Protests against Israel’s war in Gaza were expected in New York and several US cities. A man set his arm on fire on Oct 5 in a protest outside the White House.

The Gaza war has caused political difficulties for Ms Harris and Mr Biden, with Arab and Muslim voters in key swing states and left-wing Democrats strongly opposed to the conflict.

The anniversary also underlines Mr Biden and Ms Harris’ apparent powerlessness to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu’s conduct, as the Middle East threatens to slide into full-scale war.

Israel is expected to retaliate imminently for a mass ballistic missile strike by Iran last week.

Mr Biden has urged Israel not to attack Iran’s oil facilities, fearing it could push up oil prices, in turn hitting the US economy and harming Ms Harris’ election chances.

Over the last year, however, Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly ignored Mr Biden’s calls for restraint.

Senior Democrats have questioned whether Mr Netanyahu is trying to influence the election in favor of fellow right-winger Trump by holding off from any peace deal before the Nov 5 vote.

Mr Biden said last week that “whether he’s (Netanyahu’s) trying to influence the election, I don’t know”, but chided Mr Netanyahu, saying he “should remember” Washington’s strong support for Israel.

Last week, Trump said he believes Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, after Mr Biden advised against such an attack. AFP