Kamala Harris's outspoken stance on the Gaza war hints at a possible shift from Joe Biden's Israel policy as she eyes the Democratic presidential nomination -- as Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to find out this week.

The US vice president will be conspicuously absent from the Israeli leader's address to the US Congress on Wednesday, in what analysts said was a clear signal about her concerns over civilian casualties in Gaza.

The 59-year-old has never contradicted Biden on Israel. Time and again, however, she has been the US administration official most loudly calling for a ceasefire in the conflict.

With Biden's shock exit from the White House race, Harris has a chance to make a "clean slate" on an issue where there has been a risk of alienating a swathe of Democratic voters ahead of November's election, said Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group.

"The Israel-Gaza issue is the one where there is the most daylight between Biden and Harris, and I think there's going to be people inside her camp that are going to push her to make that difference explicit," he told AFP.

- 'Immense suffering' -

Biden has strongly supported Israel's war on........

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