Detroit, Michigan - Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism for her response to protesters who disrupted a Wednesday campaign rally in Detroit in solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza.

"Kamala, Kamala, you can't hide. We won't vote for genocide," pro-Palestine demonstrators chanted at the Detroit airplane hangar where Harris held her second campaign rally since announcing her 2024 running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Harris tried to quell the chants, saying, "I'm here because we believe in democracy. Everyone's voice matters, but I am speaking now. I am speaking now."

"You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking," the Democratic nominee added with a stern demeanor – to raucous cheers from her supporters.

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The exchange came amid months of mounting public outrage over the Biden administration's ongoing military and diplomatic support for Israel, including the continued transfer of billions of dollars' worth of deadly weapons. Israel has killed at least 39,677 Palestinians in Gaza since October, according to the territory's health ministry, in addition to over 600 Palestinians in the West Bank.

Two leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement, which emerged during the 2024 presidential primaries as a protest against the Biden administration's backing of Israel, shared that they had briefly spoken to Harris and Walz before the Detroit rally. The vice president reportedly expressed openness to a formal meeting on a potential arms embargo against Israel.

Detroit is home to a considerable number of Arab-American voters, who were crucial in helping to deliver Biden and Harris' 2020 win in the swing state of Michigan. Current policy toward Israel may jeopardize turnout for Democrats in 2024.

Harris and Walz made their joint debut in Philadelphia one day before the Detroit rally, touting their support for abortion, voting, and workers' rights – but failing to outline any policy differences from the current administration toward Israel and Gaza.

"I've said it many times but it bears repeating: Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does so matters," Harris said following a July meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose visit sparked mass protests.

"What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating," she continued. "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. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent."

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Harris reaffirmed her belief in Israel's "right to defend itself" after a deadly Israeli strike on Beirut, Lebanon, late last month. American citizens have since been urged to leave the country amid fears of a wider regional war.

Activists across the nation are preparing to converge on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month to demand Harris and Walz commit to enacting an arms embargo and negotiating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.