UPDATE - Netanyahu to address US Congress on July 24

ADDS REMARKS FROM SENATE MARJORITY LEADER, ISRAELI PREMIER; BACKGROUND

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of the US Congress on July 24, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Thursday.

"We look forward to hearing the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region," Johnson said on X.

The top four Congressional leaders – Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- officially invited Netanyahu last week to deliver an address to Congress.

Schumer said Thursday in a statement that he has "clear and profound disagreements" with Netanyahu, "which I have voiced both privately and publicly and will continue to do so."

"But because America’s relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends one person or prime minister, I joined the request for him to speak," he added.

Netanyahu said he was "very moved" to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress.

He added that he will "present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world."

Senator Bernie Sanders already said that he will not attend "war criminal" Netanyahu's speech.

"Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend," Sanders said.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last Oct. 7 by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire

Some 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.