DEVELOPING | Deadly strikes hit Gaza as US envoy visits Israel

Deadly strikes hit Gaza as US envoy visits Israel

An Israeli strike killed 31 people in central Gaza Sunday, the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency said, as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited for talks on the conflict.

Israeli troops have moved in on the Gaza Strip's far-southern city of Rafah, which the army describes as the last Hamas stronghold and where the United States says 800 000 civilians have been newly displaced by the fighting.

Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was targeting Israeli forces stationed at Rafah crossing - a vital conduit for humanitarian aid that is now closed - with mortar fire.

Israel has also fought and bombed resurgent Hamas forces in northern and central areas of the coastal territory previously considered to be under army control, sparking US warnings that it could become mired in a lengthy counterinsurgency campaign.

In the latest aerial bombardment overnight, Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike killed 31 people and wounded 20 in a home in the central Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's military, which on Sunday reported its aircraft had "struck dozens of terror targets" over the past 24 hours, said it was checking the reports.

Witness Yasser Abu Oula told AFP an entire residential complex "was destroyed" and "there are still bodies under the rubble".

-AFP

Major Gaza hospital reopens amid the chaos of war

Lying bedridden in her room at the recently reopened Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in Gaza, Alaa Abu Ahmed is relieved that she can finally restart her medical treatment.

Displacement because of fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in the Palestinian territory interrupted Abu Ahmed's treatment for a chronic condition.

Over a week in February, the hospital was attacked when Khan Yunis was the focus of fighting and soldiers raided it, saying Hamas was holding Israeli hostages there.

Now hallways are filled with still-wrapped boxes of equipment, and some semblance of order is returning to the facility.

While air strikes, bombardment and fighting continue to rock other areas of Gaza, in Nasser the beds have been straightened, the debris cleared and white coats bearing Doctors Without Borders (MSF) logos mix with the blue uniforms of local medics.

The international NGO has just resumed work at the hospital, the most important in the southern Gaza Strip.

"Thank God MSF was able to start working again at Nasser Hospital and I returned for treatment," Abu Ahmed said.

"My condition has improved, but I did spend some time afraid that what happened at Al-Shifa hospital would repeat itself," she added of the territory's largest hospital, in Gaza City.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Al-Shifa has been reduced to an "empty shell" by fighting.

-AFP

Health ministry in Gaza says war death toll at 35 456

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that at least 35 456 people have been killed in the territory during more than seven months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes 70 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 79 476 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October.

-AFP

Gaza officials say death toll from Israeli strike on Nuseirat rises to 31

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories – Gaza's civil defence agency said on Sunday that an Israeli air strike targeting a house at a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory killed at least 31 people, updating an earlier toll.

"The civil defence crew were able to recover 31 martyrs and 20 wounded from a house belonging to the Hassan family, which was targeted by the Israeli occupation forces in the Nuseirat camp," Gaza civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told journalists.

He said rescue workers were continuing to search for missing people under the rubble.

Earlier on Sunday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital had said it had received the bodies of 20 people killed in the strike which witnesses said occurred around 03:00 local time.

The Israeli army when contacted by AFP asked for specific coordinates of the strike.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that the wounded included several children.

 - AFP 

Two Israeli soldiers killed in south Gaza, military says

JERUSALEM – Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a battle in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the military said on Sunday.

Israel's military has been focusing its offensive in the southern part of Gaza where it says the remaining Hamas brigades are holed up.

 - REUTERS 

Gaza hospital says 20 killed in Israeli strike on Nuseirat

Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories – A Gaza hospital said on Sunday that an Israeli air strike targeting a house at a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory killed at least 20 people.

"We received 20 fatalities and several wounded after an Israeli air strike targeted a house belonging to the Hassan family in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza," the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said in a statement.

Witnesses said the strike occurred at around 03:00 local time.

The Israeli army said it was checking the report.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported that the wounded included several children, and rescuers were searching for missing people trapped under the rubble.

Fierce battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported in the central Nuseirat camp since the military launched a "targeted" operation focussing on the southern city of Rafah in early May.

Palestinian militants and Israeli troops have also clashed in north Gaza's Jabalia camp for days now.

Witnesses said several other houses were targeted in air strikes during the night across Gaza, and that air strikes and artillery shelling also hit parts of Rafah during the night.

The Israeli military said two more soldiers were killed in Gaza the previous day.

The military said 282 soldiers have been killed so far in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on 27 October.

 - AFP

Israel war cabinet minister says to quit unless Gaza plan approved

Jerusalem – Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday he would resign from the body unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip. 

"The war cabinet must formulate and approve by June 8 an action plan that will lead to the realisation of six strategic goals of national importance… (or) we will be forced to resign from the government," Gantz said, referring to his party, in a televised address directed at Netanyahu. 

Gantz said the six goals included toppling Hamas, ensuring Israeli security control over the Palestinian territory and returning Israeli hostages.

"Along with maintaining Israeli security control, establish an American, European, Arab and Palestinian administration that will manage civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip and lay the foundation for a future alternative that is not Hamas or (Mahmud) Abbas," he said, referring to the president of the Palestinian Authority.

He also urged the normalisation of ties with Saudi Arabia "as part of an overall move that will create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world against Iran and its affiliates".

Netanyahu responded to Gantz's threat on Saturday by slamming the minister's demands as "washed-up words whose meaning is clear: the end of the war and a defeat for Israel, the abandoning of most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and the establishment of a Palestinian state".

The Israeli army has been battling Hamas militants across the Gaza Strip for more than seven months.

 - AFP 

Israeli army says body of one hostage retrieved from Gaza

Jerusalem – The Israeli army said on Saturday that troops had retrieved the body of hostage Ron Benjamin from the war-torn Gaza Strip after he was "murdered" during the 7 October Hamas attack.

Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Benjamin's body was recovered in the same operation that saw troops retrieve the remains of three other hostages, which was announced on Friday.

Benjamin was "murdered during the October 7th massacre at the Mefalsim intersection, and his body was abducted to Gaza by Hamas militants", the military said in a separate statement.

"His body was rescued along with the bodies of Yitzhak Gelerenter, Shani Louk, and Amit Buskila ... based on precise intelligence obtained during the interrogations of terrorists who were apprehended in the Gaza Strip."

The military said on Friday troops had recovered the bodies of Louk, Buskila and Gelerenter from Gaza after they were taken hostage during the attack on the Nova music festival.

Thousands of young people had gathered on 6 and 7 October to dance to electronic music at the event held near Re'im kibbutz close to the Gaza border.

Fighters from Hamas crossed over from Gaza and killed more than 360 people at the festival, Israeli officials have said.

 - AFP 

UN says 800 000 have fled fierce fighting in Rafah

Rafah, Palestinian Territories – Heavy clashes and bombardment rocked the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday, as the United Nations said 800 000 people had been "forced to flee" Israel's assault on Hamas militants there.

Israel's military said air strikes hit more than 70 targets across Gaza while ground troops conducted "targeted raids" in eastern Rafah, killing 50 militants and locating dozens of tunnel shafts.

Philippe Lazzarini of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that since Israel's Rafah operation began, there had been a massive movement of people.

"800 000 people are on the road having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May", the UNRWA chief said on X.

He said people were fleeing to areas without water supplies or adequate sanitation.

 - AFP 

Israeli leaders split over post-war Gaza governance

New divisions have emerged among Israel's leaders over post-war Gaza's governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army has been battling Hamas militants across Gaza for more than seven months while also exchanging near-daily fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah forces along the northern border with Lebanon.

But after Hamas fighters regrouped in northern Gaza, where Israel previously said the group had been neutralised, broad splits emerged in the Israeli war cabinet in recent days.

Netanyahu came under personal attack from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for failing to rule out an Israeli government in Gaza after the war.

The Israeli premier's outright rejection of post-war Palestinian leadership in Gaza has broken a rift among top politicians wide open and frustrated relations with top ally the United States.

Experts say the lack of clarity only serves to benefit Hamas, whose leader has insisted no new authority can be established in the territory without its involvement.

"Without an alternative to fill the vacuum, Hamas will continue to grow," International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.

Emmanuel Navon, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, echoed this sentiment. "If only Hamas is left in Gaza, of course they are going to appear here and there and the Israeli army will be forced to chase them around," said Navon.

"Either you establish an Israeli military government or an Arab-led government."

- AFP

Israel's many, many insults for Hamas ‘ally’ South Africa at the ICJ

On Friday, Israel came before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague with an ask totalling 26 words: "The State of Israel requests the Court to reject the request for the modification and indication of provisional measures submitted by the Republic of South Africa.

"It did not take particularly long to make its argument either, declining to use 30 minutes of the two hours it had been granted to do so.  But within that time, and during its so simply summarised request, it had an extraordinary number of bad things to say about South Africa. 

On Friday, 10 May, South Africa asked the ICJ to order Israel's military out of Rafah. On Thursday, SA amended that request to cover the whole of Gaza, saying a court-imposed ceasefire was a legal and moral imperative.

Israeli forces kill senior Palestinian militant in Jenin: army

The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian militant during an air strike on an "operations centre" in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

"A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound," the Israeli Defen e Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram.

It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a "senior terrorist operative in the Jenin Camp" who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area. The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed and several others wounded during an Israeli raid on Friday night. It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said one person was killed and eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of Israel's operation in Jenin on Friday night. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin, which are nominally under the Palestinian Authority's security control. The West Bank has seen a recent surge in violence, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on 7 October.

-AFP

Hezbollah uses new drone weapons in Israel attacks

Lebanon's Hezbollah announced on Thursday it had used a drone capable of firing rockets at a military position in one of its latest attacks in northern Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah have been involved in near-daily exchanges of fire since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on 7 October.

Hezbollah announced it had used an "armed attack drone" equipped with two S-5 rockets on a military position in Metula in northern Israel.

The Iran-backed group published a video showing the drone heading towards the position, where tanks were stationed, with the footage showing the moment the two rockets were released followed by the drone exploding.

It was the first time they had announced the use of this type of weapon since the cross-border exchanges with Israel erupted in October.

The Israeli army said three soldiers were wounded in Thursday's attack.

Hezbollah-affiliated media said that the drone's warhead consisted of between 25 and 30 kilogrammes of high explosive.

- AFP

Israel recovers bodies of three hostages in Gaza

Israeli forces on Thursday night recovered the bodies of three hostages from the Gaza Strip, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Friday.

Hagari identified the three as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzhak Gelernter, who he said "were murdered by Hamas while escaping the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 and their bodies were taken into Gaza".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the military operation on Friday and reiterated a pledge to return all the hostages.

"We will bring back all our hostages, whether they are alive or dead," he said in a statement.

- Reuters

WHO says no medical supplies received in Gaza for 10 days

The World Health Organisation said Friday that it has received no medical supplies in the Gaza Strip for 10 days.

Israel's closure of the Rafah crossing into Gaza has caused "a difficult situation", WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said. "The last medical supplies that we got in Gaza was before May 6."

Israeli troops entered the city of Rafah on 7 May, and closed the Rafah crossing into Egypt that is crucial for humanitarian supplies.

With UN agencies warning of a growing risk of famine in Gaza, the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings from Israel are also virtually shut down.

Jasarevic said the biggest concern was over fuel needed to keep clinics and hospitals running. Gaza's health facilities need up to 1.8 million litres of fuel a month to keep operating.

The spokesman said only 159 000 litres had entered Rafah since the border closure. "This is clearly not sufficient," he added, highlighting how only 13 out of 36 hospitals across the Palestinian territory were now "partially" operating.

"Hospitals still functioning are running out of fuel, and that puts so many lives at danger," said Jasarevic. "Current military operations in Rafah are putting countless lives at risk."T

- AFP

Moroccan jailed for life in UK for random murder over Gaza war

A Moroccan asylum seeker was on Friday sentenced to life in prison for randomly stabbing a British man to death in revenge for Israel's response to the 7 October attacks.

Ahmed Alid, 45, murdered "innocent" victim Terence Carney, 70, in the streets of the northeastern English town of Hartlepool, eight days after Hamas militants attacked Israel last October.

Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Alid he had "attacked and murdered... in a terrorist act", and said he would spend a minimum of 44 years behind bars.

She said he had "hoped to frighten the people of Britain and undermine the freedoms they enjoy" in actions "intended as revenge" for Israel's response to the Hamas attack.

Minutes before killing Carney, Alid had also attempted to murder his housemate, Christian convert Javed Nouri, by breaking into his bedroom and hacking at him while he slept.

Alid shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") during the attack at the government-approved asylum seekers' accommodation before fleeing into the street, still armed with a knife.

Alid admitted to police that Carney was "innocent" but justified killing him by saying Britain had created the "Zionist entity" of Israel and should make them leave, adding: "They killed children and I killed an old man."

- AFP

ICJ hearings: Israel claims SA distorts facts about Gaza, abuses law and ignores role of 'ally' Hamas

Israel accused South Africa on Friday of misrepresentation, distortion of facts, and misuse of legal procedures in response to South Africa’s recent application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 

The ICJ had put it at a legal disadvantage, Israel argued, by adhering to South Africa’s timeline for the proceedings. 

Israel argued that the ceasefire South Africa is seeking is "unthinkable" and suggested that South Africa should instead engage with its "ally" Hamas.

That closes two days of remarkable hearings, during which South Africa demanded that the ICJ order Israel's military out of Gaza in explicit terms, and Israel accused South Africa of wildly distorting facts and abusing legal processes.

It is not clear exactly when the ICJ may rule on South Africa's request.

By its own timeline, it cannot do so until Monday afternoon at the earliest, but it has shown a remarkable sense of urgency, which suggests a decision not long after.

- Phillip de Wet

The disruption was brief, and Israel has now concluded its presentation to the ICJ, with a full 30 minutes left to its slot.

SA now has until Monday at 12:00 to respond in writing to what Israel has said.

- Phillip de Wet

Proceedings at the ICJ have been disrupted by someone shouting "liar" in the background.  

- Phillip de Wet

"For the court to accede to South Africa's request is to enable Hamas' battalions to continue to target Israel, to attack humanitarian crossing, and to destine the Palestinians in Gaza to perpetual war," says Tourgeman.

And it would mean the ICJ sides with a terrorist organisation.

- Phillip de Wet

If South Africa were honest in these proceedings, then it would have noted the "remarkable humanitarian efforts" by Israel, as well as the "crimes committed constantly by Hamas and the circumstances that compel Israel to respond to them, as any state would", says Tourgeman.

"Instead, it offers grandstanding and rhetoric, no real evidence."

- Phillip de Wet

On Wednesday, South Africa showed a video of Israeli soldiers chanting what SA said was the phrase "destroy Rafah".

The correct translation would actually be "dismantle", says Tourgeman, "a clear reference to Hamas".

- Phillip de Wet

"South Africa would do well to tell its ally Hamas to stop exploiting hospitals and other protected sites as military command centres," says Tourgeman - expressing directly what Israel has largely sought to imply and suggest in these legal proceedings.

- Phillip de Wet

South Africa "turns a blind eye to Israel's remarkable efforts" to improve aid delivery, Tourgeman charges, while UN officials and other states have seen "remarkable progress in the delivery of aid".

"To say, as South Africa presently does, that Israel is deliberately denying humanitarian aid cannot be farther from the truth."

- Phillip de Wet

Tourgeman has delivered a detailed account of Israeli humanitarian efforts.

She now switches to statements by Israeli leaders around aid.

That is key to several of Israel's arguments: That it has no genocidal intent, that South Africa has presented incorrect information, and that it is honouring a previous ICJ injunction that it must ensure aid gets where it is needed.

- Phillip de Wet

Now up for Israel, foreign ministry advisor Tamar Kaplan Tourgeman.

She says South Africa's presentation was striking for what it did not say.

"We have hardly heard the word 'Hamas'", she says, even though Hamas is responsible for the suffering SA says it seeks to stop.

- Phillip de Wet

Israel has now attacked both South Africa's facts and its approach, painting it as an ally of Hamas with little regard for the people of Palestine.

SA, Israel has argued so far, is cynically exploiting the ICJ, is insulting Israel by equating its actions to genocides including the Holocaust, and is ignoring the reality of the war in Gaza.

SA's claims are outrageous and libellous, Noam says, while Israel tries to engage with this process in good faith and shows its "unwavering commitment to international law" despite being under active attack.

- Phillip de Wet

Israel is outraged that South Africa speaks of "extermination zones", harking back to the Holocaust, and invokes the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, says Noam.

"How low South Africa has stooped."

- Phillip de Wet

"Hamas has been concealing the number of militants in its unverified list of Palestinian casualties," Noam says, and includes people who died from causes that include Hamas fire.

These numbers South Africa has accepted.

- Phillip de Wet

On Wednesday, South Africa argued that Israel would not allow independent fact-finding in Gaza, while insisting that information from the likes of UN bodies cannot be accepted.

Noam now says SA presented its case to the court relying in part on Hamas sources "or those subject to Hamas intimidation", and without making an effort to access information held by Israel.

- Phillip de Wet

The ICJ has previously found a genocide may be under way in Gaza, which gives it the power to order emergency measures.

That is extremely unlikely to change; the ICJ will neither make a more firm determination of genocide without full hearings that could take years, nor rescind that finding.

Yet, much like South Africa on Wednesday laid out evidence of what it says is genocide, Israel is now arguing again that there is no genocide in Gaza, nor genocidal intent by Israel.

- Phillip de Wet

"South Africa's actions speak louder than its words," charges Noam.

While Israel seeks a peaceful future for Gaza, South Africa wishes to keep Hamas in control.

- Phillip de Wet

South Africa again recently hosted Hamas representatives, says Noam, and did not call for the release of hostages, which could lead to the end of hostilities.

Now SA has "rushed" to court "for fear Hamas' last significant stronghold will fall".

- Phillip de Wet

SA is "exploiting" the Genocide Convention, Israel argues, and if it succeeds it would deny Israel the ability to defend itself while leaving Hamas free to attack it.

South Africa is asking the court to micro-manage an ongoing conflict, says Noam.

- Phillip de Wet

Noam presents the stories of Hamas' hostages, showing the court their pictures and speaking of the pain of their families.

"It is Israel's right and obligation to defend them," says Noam.

"Any state would do the same."

- Phillip de Wet

There has been no large assault on Rafah, says Noam, precisely because Israel is concerned about civilians.

Instead, it has engaged in "limited and localised operations" after evacuations.

- Phillip de Wet

There are many refugees in Rafah, says Noam, but "the city of Rafah also serves as a military stronghold for Hamas."

Israel must root out its rocket sites and command-and-control centres - which are embedded in the civilian population - he says.

- Phillip de Wet

Israel says this hearing is unfair because its chosen legal representatives were not available at such short notice.

It is not clear what practical impact that will have in these proceedings, though.

In other types of legal proceedings, such a complaint could form the basis of an appeal. But there is no appeal possible to the type of order the ICJ might make here.

- Phillip de Wet

The ICJ changed its mind about how to deal with this application, would not listen to Israel's concerns about the timing, and then, on Thursday, South Africa suddenly changed its request, says Israel's deputy attorney general for international law Gilad Noam.

Israel is strongly implying that this is a legal ambush.

- Phillip de Wet

Israel said it had been invited to submit a written submission by Wednesday - when it was suddenly informed the ICJ had decided to have oral presentation.

And its lawyers could not make it on Thursday, so it asked for a postponement "in good faith".

"Israel's request was rejected" - and instead, it remained set at SA's preferred date.  

- Phillip de Wet

The Israeli and South African teams are seated and appear to be ready, but there is no sign of the ICJ's judges yet - who are usually seated strictly on time in a court that prides itself on punctuality.

- Phillip de Wet

Israel is due to present its oral argument at the International Court of Justice shortly, responding to South Africa's presentation on Wednesday.

Like SA, Israel will have two hours.

We do not know what Israel might say: By Wednesday, it had not filed any written response to South Africa's application, which is very unusual in such cases.

After South Africa called for a Gaza-wide ceasefire, though, it is likely that Israel will repeat some of its previous arguments against such an order.

That has included saying that it cannot be denied its right to self-defence and that South Africa is seeking a military advantage for Hamas by trying to get a one-sided ceasefire order.

- Phillip de Wet

Suspected gunshots near Israeli embassy in Stockholm prompt police cordon

Swedish police have detained several people and cordoned off a large area in Stockholm after a patrol heard suspected gunshots, they said on Friday, with the Israeli embassy located in the closed-off area. "A police patrol at Strandvagen in Stockholm heard bangs and suspected there had been a shooting," police said on their website, adding that the affected area lay between the capital's Djurgarden Bridge, its Nobel Park and the Oscar Church.

Several people have been detained and an investigation has been launched into suspected serious weapons crime, they added.

-Reuters

US military says first aid shipment delivered via Gaza temporary pier

The US military said aid deliveries began Friday via a temporary pier in Gaza aimed at ramping up emergency humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Today at approximately 09:00 (Gaza time), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, adding that no US troops went ashore.

-AFP

Pentagon chief told Israel counterpart civilians must be protected before any Rafah operation

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a phone call with Israel Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, reinforced the "unquestionable necessity" of protecting civilians and ensuring the uninterrupted flow humanitarian aid before any potential military operation in Rafah, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

-Reuters

US House votes to force weapons shipments to Israel, rebuking Biden

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 war with Hamas.

The Israel Security Assistance Support Act was approved 224 to 187, largely along party lines. Sixteen Democrats joined most Republicans in voting yes, and three Republicans joined most Democrats in opposing the measure. 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 7 October.

Republicans accused Biden of turning his back on Israel after facing widespread pro-Palestinian protests. "This is a catastrophic decision with global implications. It is obviously being done as a political calculation, and we cannot let this stand," Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told a news conference with other party leaders on Wednesday. Democrats also accused the other party of playing politics, saying Republicans are distorting Biden's position on Israel. "It is not a serious effort at legislation, which is why some of the most pro-Israel members of the House Democratic caucus will be voting no," House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told a news conference before the vote.

Israel, a major recipient of U.S. military assistance for decades, is still due to get billions of dollars of US weaponry, despite the delay of one shipment of 2 000-pound (907-kg) and 500-pound bombs and the review of other weapons shipments by the Biden administration. As recently as Tuesday, the State Department had moved a $1 billion package of weapons aid for Israel into the congressional review process, US officials said.

-Reuters