VP Kamala Harris: Our President Joe Biden wanted to be here today. He's feeling much better and recovering fast and he looks forward to getting back on the road.
Harris: And I wanted to say a few words about our president. Joe Biden's legacy of accomplishments over the past three yearsis unmatched. In one term he has already—Yes, you make clap—In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy (of others who had two). I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau.
Harris: We worked together as attorneys general in our states. And back then Beau would often tell me stories about his dad. He would talk about the kind of father and the kind of man that Joe Biden is. the qualities that Beau revered in his father are the same qualities that I have seen every day in our president: his honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith and his family.
🧵Jake Sullivan: “What I have heard as they went around the table yesterday, at the North Atlantic Council session just with the NATO allies, was a drumbeat of praise for the United States, but also for President Biden personally, for what he's done to strengthen NATO, especially as president, but also over the course of his entire career. Leaders really made a point of reinforcing their gratitude to him on that.”
Sullivan says when the US paused shipments of 2000 pound bombs to Israel a couple months back, the 500 pound bombs got held back with them, seemingly as a logistical matter. The 500 pound bombs now unpaused, the 2000 ones remain held back.
Sullivan on Gaza ceasefire/hostage release talks: “We see progress. We see the possibility of reaching agreement. I can't guarantee that because there's a lot of details to be hammered through.
Senior US admin official on latest Hamas response: “It's clear that this response moves the process forward, and may provide the basis for closing a deal.”
The POTUS/Israel PM “conversation was detailed, going through the text of the agreement, constructive, and we think encouraging, while also clear-eyed about the work ahead and steps that must be put in place to finalize the deal and then begin the implementation.”
The SAO said he has “been involved in many of these calls on the hostage deal, and I have to say, given the recent developments, we do believe there is a pretty significant opening here. And we welcome the PM’s readiness to try to seize that opening by empowering his negotiating team to engage directly in Doha in the coming days.”
🧵 “The Court considers that, in conformity with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, & any other action in the Rafah Governorate,
which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
“In its Orders of 26 January 2024 and 28 March 2024, the Court expressed its grave concern over the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since
then by Hamas & other armed groups, & called for their immediate & unconditional release.
“The Court finds it deeply troubling that many of these hostages remain in captivity and reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.”
🧵Excerpts of US State Dept report to Congress concerning Israel’s compliance with NSM-20. (I typed these quickly, apologies for typoes in advance.):
“Israel has, upon request, shared some information on specific incidents implicating IHL, some details of its targeting choices, and some battle damage assessments. Although we have gained insight into Israel’s procedures and rules, we do not have complete information on how these processes are implemented. Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of this report.
“Limited information has been shared to date in response to USG inquiries under review to determine whether U.S. munitions were used in incidents involving civilian harm. However, certain Israel-operated systems are entirely U.S.-origin (e.g., crewed attack aircraft) and are likely to have been involved in incidents that raise concerns about Israel’s IHL compliance.
“One specific area of concern is the impact of Israel’s military operations on humanitarian actors. Despite regular engagement from humanitarian actors and repeated USG interventions with Israeli officials on deconfliction/coordination procedures, the IDF has struck humanitarian workers and facilities.
🧵State Dept spox Matt Miller: “We actually think that a Rafah operation would weaken Israel's position both in these talks and writ large. …a major military operation in Rafah would further weaken Israel’s standing in the world, would further create distance from its partners in the region, who actually share Israel's goal of seeing Hamas defeated and want to see a Hamas replaced with a different governance structure in Gaza.”
And then also, if you look, just look at Hamas’ track record. They've never cared about Palestinian civilian lives. If they did, they would not have launched these attacks in the first place, which they knew would produce a response. They wouldn't hide behind civilians, and they would have agreed to a ceasefire long ago so I just don't think that that that the argument holds any water with respect to the talks itself.
They (the Government of Israel) have made quite clear they intend to conduct an operation, the operation they have conducted so far has been limited. They have talked, quite openly about conducting a major military operation in Rafah. We are opposed to that, but we'll see what happens. We have made quite clear, we don't want to see it happen. We continued and I should say, we do continue to engage with them about other options that they can pursue.