US House rejects Israel-only aid bill

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US House of Representatives rejected a Republican-led bill Tuesday that would provide $17.6 billion to Israel.

The vote was 250 to 180, with 166 Democrats and 14 Republicans opposing the measure, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.

Many who voted against the bill cited Israel’s continued offensive in the Gaza Strip, calling for stronger human rights protections in the region.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that the bill is "even worse than we expected" and "If this bill reaches the House, it will be dead on arrival."

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing at least 27,585 Palestinians and injuring 66,978 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.