The United States House of Representatives voted on Thursday to approve a GOP-led bill to compel the delivery of defensive weapons to Israel, as Republicans increase pressure on President Joe Biden over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Democratic-led Senate, and the White House has said Biden would veto it if Congress passes it.
The bill would prevent the president from withholding, stopping, reversing, or canceling arms transfers approved by the United States Congress to Israel and requires that any weapons that have been withheld be turned over to Israel within 15 days of the bill's enactment. .
The legislation would cut funding from several key executive branch entities, including the State Department, the Defense Department and the National Security Council, until any retained weapons are shipped to Israel.
The vote score was 224-187. Three Republicans switched sides and voted against the measure. Sixteen Democrats voted in favor.
The vote comes as Biden faces pushback from lawmakers in both parties after he said during an interview with Erin Burnett of CNN last week that he would halt some American arms shipments to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major invasion of the city of Rafah, where more than a million civilians have been sheltered.
Biden said the US would continue to supply defensive weapons to Israel, including for its Iron Dome air defense system, but that other shipments would end if a major ground invasion of Rafah began.
Source: CNN Brasil
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