Back in March, Vice President Kamala Harris warned Israel not to enter Rafah, the southern Gaza enclave where Hamas had holed up among the its civilian population, saying in an interview that the U.S. would not rule out “consequences” if the Israeli military moved forward with an invasion.
On Thursday, she praised Israel’s success in killing Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as he hid out in that very city.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed Sinwar during a firefight in Rafah overnight Wednesday, only discovering in the morning after a positive DNA analysis that they had taken out the the architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people a year ago.
Earlier this year, however, the Biden administration had strongly opposed the IDF conducting a full-scale military operation in Rafah, even calling such an invasion a “red line.”
A White House official told Newsweek that the administration had only opposed a large-scale ground invasion.
“We opposed a large-scale invasion with heavy ground fighting in densely populated areas while there were so many civilians sheltering there given the high potential for civilian casualties,” the official said in an email.
“Instead, we advised the Israeli government on a different approach, and it worked.”
Newsweek emailed the Harris campaign Thursday night for comment.
President Joe Biden struck a celebratory chord on Thursday in a statement issued after the news had been confirmed that Hamas chief had been killed. The president touted the close cooperation between the U.S. and Israel to “track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza.”
“This is a good day for Israel, for the United States and for the world,” Biden said in a statement.
In her own statement from the campaign trail, Harris went a step further, saying that “justice has been served,” and that “the United States, Israel and the entire world are better off as a result.”
Harris also used the moment to push for an end to Israel’s operations in Gaza, insisting that “Israel is secure” following Sinwar’s death.
“This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza,” Harris said during a campaign speech the University of Wisconsin.
“And it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom and self-determination.”
Seven months ago, before Harris was the Democratic nominee, she issued a stern warning to Israel about its plans to invade Rafah in southern Gaza, suggesting it could face “consequences” if it did.
“We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris said in an interview with ABC News.
“Let me tell you something: I have been studying the maps. There’s nowhere for those folks to go, and we’re looking at about 1.5 million people in Rafah who were there because they were told to go there, most of them.”
“So, we’ve been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into Rafah with any type of military operation,” Harris said at the time.
The Israelis went ahead with a version of the Rafah operation in May. Five months later, the offensive yielded their most-wanted man.
“Yahya Sinwar is dead,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in announcing the military victory late Thursday. “While this is not the end of the war in Gaza, it’s the beginning of the end.”
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