Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked US lawmakers after they approved about $26 billion for supporting Israel and providing humanitarian relief for people in Gaza.
The American lawmakers said that about $4 billion of that would be dedicated to replenishing Israel's missile defense systems, and more than $9 billion of the total would go toward humanitarian assistance in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel thanked the US by saying, "When Israel is strong, the US is more secure' and that 'Israel has no closer ally than America, and America has no closer ally than Israel".
netanyahu on the X platform wrote, The US Congress just overwhelmingly passed a much-appreciated aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization. Thank you, friends, thank you America!"
On Saturday, US lawmakers approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies.
The US approved $1 billion of aid for UkraineMany Democrats cheered on the House floor and waved blue-and-yellow flags of Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said he was “grateful” to both parties in the House and “personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Thank you, America!” he said.
While aid for Ukraine failed to win a majority of Republicans, several dozen progressive Democrats voted against the bill aiding Israel as they demanded an end to the bombardment of Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians. A group of roughly 20 hard-right Republicans voted against every portion of the aid package, including for allies like Israel and Taiwan that have traditionally enjoyed support from the GOP.
Meanwhile, The Palestinian presidency said the US House of Representatives' approval of billions of dollars in new military aid to Israel marked "an aggression against the Palestinian people".
The money would "translate into thousands of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip" and the West Bank, said Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, calling it a "dangerous escalation".
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