US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Photo: AFPThe lower house of the United States Congress has passed a proposal to give 1,450 million dollars in military aid to Israel. Local time on Thursday, the opposition Republican Party raised this resolution passed. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is visiting Israel, once again had only ‘good words’ for the Palestinians. He said more efforts are needed to save Palestinian lives.
According to a report by Qatar-based media Al-Jazeera, this money will be provided to Israel by cutting the cost of the US Internal Revenue Service. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 226-196. This is the first time a major bill has passed in the lower house since lawmaker Mike Johnson, the majority opposition Republican party in the House, became speaker.
The bill has passed the lower house but still has a long way to go before it becomes effective. The bill will now be tabled in the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress. Where again the ruling Democratic Party is the majority. After passing the Senate, the bill will be brought to President Biden’s desk. If he signs assent, the bill will become law and only then will the US be able to provide the money to Israel.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is visiting Israel for the second time because of the Gaza crisis. When he went there, he called on Israel for a ceasefire, but the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected that call. Blinken had only good words for the Palestinians. “We have to do more to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians,” he said.
At the press conference about the meeting with Netanyahu, he said, ‘Several questions were raised in our discussion today. This includes how to ensure maximum humanitarian assistance, how to balance the issue of hostage release and ceasefire etc.’ “These are issues that we urgently need to address and we believe they can be resolved,” he said.
Tags: Congress announces billion Israel good words Palestinians
