Harris has expressed greater sympathy for the suffering of Palestinians, but stopped short of arms embargo demands.

Advisers close to Vice President Kamala Harris have denied that she expressed openness to cutting off arms transfers to Israel, a key demand of pro-Palestine groups looking for a sharp departure from the United States’ policy of support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a social media post on Thursday, Harris’s national security adviser Phil Gordon disputed reports that the Democratic presidential candidate was receptive to calls for a weapons embargo.

“@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law,” Gordon said.

The episode is the latest to raise questions over the extent to which Harris could break with President Joe Biden over the war in Gaza, with pro-Palestinian activists pushing for changes beyond a greater rhetorical focus on the suffering of Palestinians.

Rumours that Harris would consider an arms embargo emerged after she spoke briefly with activists from the Uncommitted Movement, a pro-Palestine group sharply critical of US policy on Gaza.

In a video posted to social media on Thursday, Layla Elabed, co-founder of the Uncommitted Movement, said that Harris indicated she would be willing to meet with the group to discuss their demand for an end to US arms transfers to Israel.

“I meet with community members [in Michigan] who are losing tens and hundreds of family members in Gaza. I asked [Harris], ‘Will you meet with us to talk about an arms embargo?’” Elabed said. “And Kamala Harris nodded. She agreed, ‘Yes, we will meet.’”

Harris has sought to portray herself as empathetic to the plight of civilians in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign has killed nearly 40,000 people and been accused of abuses such as torture by rights groups.

“The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety — sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time — we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies,” Harris said after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”

But pro-Palestine activists, some of whom have numerous relatives who have been killed in Gaza, say a change in tone is not the same as ending the robust diplomatic and military support that has been central to Israel’s war effort.

“I meet with community members (in Michigan) who are losing tens and hundreds of family members in Gaza. I asked, ‘Will you meet with us to talk about an arms embargo?’

And @KamalaHarris nodded, she agreed, ‘Yes, we will meet.’”pic.twitter.com/RbVBPogojP

— Uncommitted National Movement 🌺 (@uncommittedmvmt) August 8, 2024

“It’s exactly because the current White House policy allows bombs to flow to Netanyahu unconditionally that he has been emboldened to kill tens of thousands of civilians,” the Uncommitted Movement said in a statement responding to Gordon.

“We found hope in Vice President Harris expressing an openness to meeting about an arms embargo, and we are eager to continue engaging because people we love are being killed with American bombs,” the statement adds.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies