After a 40-minute meeting on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Kamala Harris declared her “unwavering commitment” to the State of Israel, in her first remarks on the Middle East since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee over the weekend.

“From when I was a young girl, collecting funds to plant trees for Israel, to my time in the United States Senate and now at the White House, I’ve had an unwavering commitment to the existence of the state of Israel, to its security and to the people of Israel,” Harris said in a six-minute address following the meeting. “I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating. Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.”

Harris’ remarks offered an important look at how the vice president seeks to present her approach to Israel and Gaza. While she spoke emotionally about the scale of humanitarian suffering in Gaza, her pronouncements about the course of the war and efforts to end it largely echoed the beliefs of President Joe Biden: that Washington will continue to support Israel while negotiating a cease-fire deal that leads to the release of Israeli hostages, brings humanitarian relief to Gaza and ensures Israel’s security. 

“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization. On Oct. 7, Hamas triggered this war when it massacred 1,200 innocent people, including 44 Americans. Hamas has committed horrific acts of sexual violence and took 250 hostages. There are American citizens who remain captive in Gaza,” said Harris, before naming the five American hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza, and the three deceased hostages whose remains are being held by Hamas. 

She has met with the family members of the American hostages several times.

“I’ve told them each time: They are not alone, and I stand with them, and President Biden and I are working every day to bring them home,” said Harris. 

There is a deal on the table, Harris stated. “As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” she said, though she did not elaborate further on the tenor of their conversation.

“It is time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination,” said Harris. Despite condemning Hamas as a “brutal terrorist organization,” her speech — and her description of the cease-fire plan on the table — did not call for Hamas to be removed from power in Gaza. (A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.) 

In her comments after the meeting, Harris signaled a shift in tone from Biden in speaking frankly about the grievous conditions faced by many people in Gaza.

“I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians, and I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there,” Harris said. “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

Harris offered a message to activists who have been critical of Israel’s conduct of the war.

“To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire, and to everyone who yearns for peace: I see you and I hear you. Let’s get the deal done, so we can get a cease-fire to end the war. Let’s bring the hostages home. And let’s provide much needed relief to the Palestinian people,” Harris said. 

She asserted her support for a two-state solution as the only true path forward in the Middle East.

“A two-state solution is the only path that ensures Israel remains a secure, Jewish and democratic state, and one that ensures Palestinians can finally realize the freedom, security and prosperity that they rightly deserve,” she explained. 

Harris ended her remarks with a plea for civility and understanding, imploring Americans to understand that “the war in Gaza is not a binary issue.”

“Too often the conversation is binary, when the reality is anything but,” Harris said. “So I ask my fellow Americans to help encourage efforts to acknowledge the complexity, the nuance and the history of the region. Let us all condemn terrorism and violence. Let us all do what we can to prevent the suffering of innocent civilians, and let us condemn antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate of any kind. And let us work to unite our country.”