(NewsNation) — The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a mostly symbolic bill that would force the Biden administration to end its suspension of shipping bombs to Israel.
The measure also criticizes President Joe Biden for initiating the hold and would stop funding of the State Department and the National Security Council until deliveries resume.
The bill passed comfortably 224-187 as 16 Democrats joined with most Republicans to vote in favor. Three Republicans voted against it. The White House has said Biden would veto the bill if it passes Congress, and the Democratic-led Senate seems certain to reject it.
The White House put a hold on shipments of 3,500 bombs earlier this month, seeking to discourage Israel’s offensive on the Gaza city of Rafah. Republicans have said President Joe Biden has no business criticizing Israel for how it uses U.S.–made weapons in its war on Hamas.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel lacked a “credible plan” to protect some 1.4 million Palestinian civilians in Rafah and warned an Israeli attack could create an insurgency by failing to kill all Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city.
Israel’s military operation in Gaza has killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. This offensive followed the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel in which members of the militant group killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage.
House Republicans have criticized the weapons freeze from earlier this month and pushed legislation that requires munitions to be delivered to Israel within 15 days of it being enacted, NewsNation partner The Hill reported.
House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in an interview with NewsNation Wednesday that the bill is not a serious effort to protect America’s national security. Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., told NewsNation that the legislation doesn’t address issues in Israel or Gaza.
“If we want to move this conflict to a bilateral ceasefire let’s do that. If we want to get more humanitarian aid, let’s do that,” Ivey said. “I don’t think this addresses either of those.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, pushed back on comments like these.
“We can’t just say ‘I stand with Israel,’ we have to actually stand with Israel,” Gonzales said. “You can’t play politics in the middle of a war.”
Despite Thursday’s anticipated vote in the House, the measure has little chance in the Senate and even less of a shot at receiving Biden’s signature, as the president already said he’d veto it.
“The bill is a misguided reaction to a deliberate distortion of the Administration’s approach to Israel,” the White House said. “The President has been clear: we will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend rendering this bill unnecessary and unwise.”
In addition, congressional aides said to the Associated Press that the Biden administration has told key lawmakers it plans to move forward on a new $1 billion sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. That would be the first shipment of weapons to Israel since the last one was put on hold.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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