US House votes to force weapons shipments to Israel
(VOVWORLD) - The Republican-led US House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would force President Joe Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect civilians during its conflict with Hamas.
The act is not expected to become law, but its passage underscored the deep US election-year divide over Israel policy as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government seeks to wipe out militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Palestinian authorities say more than 35,000 civilians have been killed during Israel's campaign in Gaza.
Israel, a major recipient of US military assistance for decades, is still due to get billions of dollars of US weaponry, despite the delay or review of the shipments of several types of weapons by the Biden administration.