Nearly a year after Hamas-led militants poured into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage, unleashing Israel’s brutal war in the Gaza Strip, a cease-fire remains elusive. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar have labored exhaustively and unsuccessfully to bring Hamas and the Israeli government to terms that would end fighting and free the hostages, as well as release hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Harris and Trump agree that the Israel-Hamas war, which Gaza health officials say has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians in the territory, must come to an end. But they differ on how that should happen and what the future of Gaza should look like.
Harris supports President Biden’s ongoing cease-fire talks, which envision Israel withdrawing from the coastal enclave and a “clear pathway” to the formation of an independent Palestinian state. She has also led the administration in voicing support for the Palestinian people of Gaza, who face starvation, disease and widespread destruction of homes and livelihoods. However, she does not support any effort to stop shipping weapons to Israel.
Trump has said he would not oppose an Israeli military victory in Gaza and has not ruled out some form of Israeli rule or occupation of the enclave. When he was president, he did not actively support a Palestinian state. In fact, he granted Israel a long list of concessions, including transfer of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem and recognition of Israeli control of the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
One of Trump’s signature foreign policy achievements was the 2020 Abraham Accords, in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognized Israel and opened diplomatic ties, the first countries in the Arab world to do so since Egypt and Jordan decades ago. But powerhouse Saudi Arabia, considered the crowning jewel of regional normalization, has not followed suit and is demanding such a step be contingent on a Palestinian state. The Biden-Harris administration advocates for that, but Trump has not announced an opinion.
The Israel-Hamas war has intensified other conflicts in the Middle East, including attacks on international shipping lanes by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. Both the Houthis and Hezbollah are backed by Iran.
