ALBAWABA - The US House of Representatives approved billions of dollars in new military aid for Israel, which is still raging its brutal war against the Gaza Strip, despite mounting worldwide concern about the fate of people in the besieged enclave.
The plan, which could be considered by the US Senate as early as Tuesday, would primarily support Israel's Iron Dome air defense. The House also approved military aid for Ukraine, strengthened Taiwan's defenses, and threatened to ban Chinese-owned TikTok. The four bills in the $95 billion package were overwhelmingly adopted quickly.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement the legislation would "deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations... and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific".
A total of $13 billion in military assistance has been allocated for Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the "much-appreciated aid bill" showed strong support for Israel and "defends Western civilization".
According to the legislation, more than $9 billion will be earmarked to address "the dire need for humanitarian assistance for Gaza as well as other vulnerable populations around the world,".
The Palestinian president, on the other hand, described the US House of Representatives' approval of billions of dollars to Israel as "an aggression against the Palestinian people".
Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian president said: "The money would translate into thousands of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank".
The Palestinian Authority will "reconsider" its relationship with the United States following Washington's veto of a Palestinian application for full UN membership earlier this week, according to President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday.
"The Palestinian leadership will reconsider bilateral relations with the United States to ensure the protection of our people's interests, our cause, and our rights," Abbas told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The draft resolution proposed recommending to the General Assembly "that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations" instead of its current "non-member observer state" status, which it has held since 2012. 137 members of the 193 members of the United Nations have recognized a Palestinian State.
