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Harris calls for end to war in Gaza and Israeli occupation

US vice-president stresses a two-state solution and Middle East stability in a way that does not empower Iran

US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris called on Tuesday for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and said that Israel must not reoccupy the Palestinian enclave once the nearly year-old conflict comes to an end.

Speaking in Philadelphia to the National Association of Black Journalists, she called for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants, a two-state solution and Middle East stability in a way that does not empower Iran.

"We've made ourselves very clear this deal needs to get done in the best interest of everyone in the region," Harris, the US vice-president, said in response to questions asked by three journalists.

At least 41,252 people have been killed and 95,497 wounded in the Israeli offensive in the Hamas-ruled strip since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began that day when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Harris was asked about Springfield, Ohio, a city that for days has found itself at the centre of a social media maelstrom after right-wing agitators latched onto false claims that Haitian arrivals were eating household pets.

Former President Donald Trump, Harris' Republican rival in the November 5 presidential election, has pledged to conduct mass deportations of Haitian immigrants from Springfield if elected, even though the majority are in the United States legally.

"This is exhausting and it's harmful and it's hateful and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for," Harris said.

The 45-minute interview began with economic issues. Harris said that if elected president she will work with private investors to boost housing supply, acknowledging that more work was needed to lower prices for Americans.

"One of the big issues that affects people right now in terms of the economy and their economic wellbeing is we have a shortage of housing supply," Harris said. "It's too expensive."

Harris reiterated a plan to expand the child tax credit to $6,000. She repeated a pledge that Americans not pay more than seven per cent of their income on childcare.

The interview was scheduled after Harris did not attend the group's convention in Chicago in July when Trump, in an interview, questioned her Black identity.

In the 2020 presidential election, Black voters supported then-candidate Joe Biden 92 per cent to eight per cent over the then-incumbent Trump, according to the Pew Research Center. Most Black voters, 63 per cent, plan to support Harris, compared with 13 per cent for Trump, according to an NAACP survey released this month.

However, some Black voters are losing faith in the Democratic Party. Over one quarter of younger Black men say they would support Trump this election, the NAACP poll showed.

"Black men are like any other voting group," Harris said. "You gotta earn their vote."

The interview was conducted by NABJ members from TheGrio and Politico as well as an anchor for WHYY-FM, a public radio station.

Both Harris and Trump have made efforts to win over Black voters, whose support may be decisive in the closely fought vote, especially in a handful of battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Georgia.

Some forecasters regard Pennsylvania as a must-win state.

In Georgia, an intense battle is being waged for the Black voters who make up a third of the state's population, the biggest proportion of Black voters in any of the seven battleground states.

Trump's attempt to pull in more support from Black voters is complicated by their traditional loyalty to the Democratic Party, his past racist remarks and a history of Republican-backed voting restrictions that activists say make it harder for Black residents to vote. Republicans deny trying to suppress the vote.