U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday made her first major statement on the war in Gaza since she became the Democratic Partys presumptive presidential nominee affirming that she wants to see conditions improve for Palestinians, while still backing the current U.S. approach of simultaneously arming Israel and seeking a cease-fire.

Harris notably offered the U.S. administrations official readout of discussions that she and President Joe Biden held earlier in the day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

To everyone who has been calling for a cease-fire and to everyone who yearns for peace: I see you and I hear you, she said, detailing a proposed truce that the U.S. has spent months urging Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to embrace. Harris combined common administration talking points support for Israels right to defend itself and concern for the human toll of its military campaign in Gaza with the kind of detail she has often used in describing the conflicts effects.

Citing images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time, Harris said she told Netanyahu to get this deal done to help Palestinians and free Israeli hostages whom Hamas captured in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the current fighting.

Biden rarely uses such vivid language in addressing Palestinian distress. Still, rhetoric is for now the chief difference between Harris and him when it comes to the war. As she develops her presidential campaign, managing continuity and contrast with the president on Gaza is likely to remain a top concern for Harris and her team.

Of the two voter groups she needs to woo for a victory in November committed Democrats and a sizable number of independents majorities have consistently opposed the U.S.-backed Israeli offensive for months. But stepping out of line with Biden could anger some in the party or spark pushback from ardent supporters of Israel. And all the while, Harris remains a high-ranking official, implicated in current policy as she faces questions about her possible future approach.

The administration took another step to position Harris as a standard-bearer on Gaza in its latest consultation on the war with outside national security experts on Friday. Such sessions are treated as ways to make sure influential voices understand and, the White House hopes, publicly defend the administrations strategy. For the first time since such sessions began, the vice presidents team largely ran that meeting, two people familiar with the discussion told HuffPost, a shift that suggested a focus on demonstrating Harris foreign policy credentials.

As Harris takes a new role on the world stage, the dangers posed by the current Gaza policy have grown.

Polio is now spreading in the Palestinian enclave, the World Health Organization said Tuesday , warning an outbreak of the feared disease will be very difficult to stem because ongoing Israeli attacks have destroyed medical and clean water infrastructure. More than 250,000 people in the strip lack polio vaccines.

On Saturday, the risk of a new and broader war shot up. A rocket strike in Israeli-controlled territory killed 12 youths, sparking Israeli threats against the Hamas ally Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and has been striking Israeli targets throughout the war in Gaza. Israel has responded with sweeping attacks of its own, and U.S. officials have suspected the escalating tit-for-tat will spur a full-on Israeli invasion of Lebanon and devastation in both countries. (Speaking to Reuters , Hezbollah denied responsibility for the Saturday attack.)

Many humanitarian and global affairs experts say its past time for the U.S., as Israels closest ally, to use its leverage to force a change in Israeli policies in Gaza, seen as driving tensions across the Middle East. They recommend policies like Washington indicating that military and diplomatic support for Israel could end if the country does not take steps such as halting bombing altogether or letting more aid reach Palestinians.

Harris sudden influence already appears to be affecting the Israeli calculus. After Netanyahus meeting with her, Israeli officials told reporters they were surprised by her tacit criticisms, claiming these could help Hamas in cease-fire negotiations by showing daylight between the U.S. and Israel.

Stateside, many political observers are arguing that Harris is open to suggestions for a change from the Biden administrations policy, including by being firmer with Netanyahu. Shes going to be somewhat less supportive [of Israel] than President Biden has been, and I think that a large part of the Democratic Party, especially the younger members of the party, want that, veteran Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on MSNBC this week. Patrick Gaspard, the president of the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, wrote on X that Harris comments after meeting with the Israeli leader led to him hearing from many who finally felt heard by our [government].

But most signs suggest she will remain cautious about questioning the administrations policy or overhauling U.S.-Israel relations a position she will need to explain and defend as the November election nears.

She has a responsibility to define where she stands, Mohammed Khader, the policy manager at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, told HuffPost, identifying policy and institutions as more important than tone shifts.

The Biden-Harris Show

Harris already has a track record on the war in Gaza. It suggests observers are right to hope she will not operate as Biden has, but should also temper their predictions.

The presidents near-total support for Israel is the result of decision-making by an insular group including him and just a handful of advisers. Foreign policy officials have told HuffPost the process has been unlike the administrations handling of other dilemmas, such as the war in Ukraine. They say the White House has also largely disregarded pushback from government experts who believe the policy is harming U.S. interests and potentially violating U.S. and international law by funneling weapons to Israel as it faces allegations of committing war crimes. As internal complaints and public resignations of staff members have mounted, Bidens team has said it welcomes feedback but has not meaningfully changed course.

Harris aides, however, have consistently been more open to feedback, a U.S. official told HuffPost, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.

Her national security adviser, Phil Gordon, and her Middle East special adviser, Ilan Goldenberg, take input from staff and dont pretend to know all the answers to everything, the official said.

They contrasted the pair with Bidens controversial chief Middle East aide and his national security adviser. Both have been much more reasonable and moderate than [Brett] McGurk [or Jake] Sullivan, the official said. They said Gordon and Goldenberg were particularly effective in devising steps to address the Israeli government enabling violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, saying: Gaza has been all Biden people in every aspect. Everything gets decided top-down.

Though the two Harris aides do not hold dramatically dissimilar views from most other Biden officials, their more deliberative approach to policymaking and some of their past work suggests they may consider less deference to Israel. Gordon has urged the U.S. to reflect on its dubious track record in the Middle East, and Goldenberg has recommended that Washington boost outreach to Palestinians.

Harris herself has raised Palestinian concerns in policy discussions when she has felt they were overlooked, White House officials told The Washington Post , for a story that quoted an administration official saying the vice president chose to focus on planning among U.S. officials for Gazas postwar fate.