Gantz Arrives At WH For Meetings With VP Harris And NSA Sullivan

Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz has arrived at the White House for meetings with US Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden's key advisors - National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk.

• Gantz's trip, which is also expected to include a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken tomorrow, was not formally sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hints at deepening fissures between Netanyahu's coalition and members of the opposition - represented by Gantz.
• Gantz told reporters at the White House a few moments ago: "With friends we need to speak openly and this is what I am going to do."
• The meeting comes after Harris made the administration’s most forceful call for a cease fire yet, saying in a speech in Alabama yesterday: “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire at least for the next six weeks, which is currently on the table…”
• Over the weekend the US began airdropping food into Gaza for the first time. Politico reported that the decision signals, “just how ineffective the U.S. has become at influencing its ally Israel: As this kind of move is typically reserved for deliveries in hostile territory or behind enemy lines.”