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Harris to mark anniversary of October 7 attacks with tree planting at her residence

Harris to mark anniversary of October 7 attacks with tree planting at her residence
October 07, 2024

(CNN) โ€” Vice President Kamala Harris will mark Mondayโ€™s one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel at her Naval Observatory residence, where, along with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, sheโ€™ll plant a memorial tree, according to a White House official.

Second families have traditionally planted trees on the grounds of the vice presidentโ€™s residence. Mondayโ€™s planting of a pomegranate tree โ€” which, among other things, represents hope and righteousness in Judaism โ€” will mark the first for Harris and Emhoff while theyโ€™ve been at the residence, according to the official.

The escalating violence in the Middle East has been one of the thorniest issues for Harris as sheโ€™s taken over the Democratic ticket this year. Arab American advocates and leaders have pushed for the vice president to distance herself from President Joe Bidenโ€™s Israel policy, including during a meeting in Michigan on Friday.

Harris has maintained that Israel has a right to defend itself while also acknowledging the heightened emotions surrounding the humanitarian crisis in the region.

Sheโ€™s also previously spotlighted the violence that unfolded on October 7. In June, she hosted a White House event focused in part on the Israel-Hamas war as part of an effort to highlight conflict-related sexual violence.

Harris and Emhoff, who is Jewish, are also expected to deliver remarks to reporters Monday. The vice president will reflect on October 7 and reaffirm her commitment to the security of Israel and of the Jewish people, the official said.

Emhoff will also attend the American Jewish Committee October 7 commemoration in Washington, DC, where he will recite a prayer.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel on October 7, 2023, when more than 1,500 Hamas fighters attacked, and others are still held hostage by Hamas. Israelโ€™s subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry there, and created a dire humanitarian crisis.

Harris has forcefully spoken about the situation unfolding in Gaza โ€” notably, in remarks in Selma, Alabama, in March, when she said people in the region are โ€œstarvingโ€ in the face of โ€œinhumaneโ€ conditions.

Harris told CBSโ€™ โ€œ60 Minutesโ€ in an interview that airs Monday that the US has had an influence on Israeli decision-making, even as the Middle East inches toward a wider conflict, but would not say whether she believes the US has a โ€œclose allyโ€ in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

โ€œThe work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles, which include the need for humanitarian aid, the need for this war to end, the need for a deal to be done, which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire. And weโ€™re not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders,โ€ she said when asked whether the US has sway over Netanyahu.

When pressed on the appearance that Israeli leadership did not always seem to be listening to the US, Harris โ€” without providing specifics โ€” said the administration has had an influence.

โ€œThe work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,โ€ she said.

During Harrisโ€™ Friday meeting in Michigan, Arab American advocates asked the vice president to push harder for an end to the war in Gaza, amid increasing frustration over her response to Israelโ€™s recent escalations in Lebanon.

The conversation, scheduled to last 10 minutes, ended up going 20, according to Waโ€™el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, a group aimed at boosting the Muslim American vote. Harris did not make any promises, he said, but told them โ€œthat she also wants the war to end and that she will do all she can to work in this regard.โ€

Harris has occasionally been disrupted at campaign rallies by pro-Palestinian protesters. In those moments, the vice president has stressed that the administration is working toward a ceasefire deal.

The-CNN-Wire
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