US Senate clears $95 bn aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan
Biden pushes for six-week fighting pause in Israel-hamas hostage deal
The Democratic-led US Senate on Tuesday passed a $95.34 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, although it faced an uncertain path ahead in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The lawmakers approved the measure in a 70-29 vote that comfortably exceeded the chamber's 60-vote threshold for passage and sent the legislation on to the House. Twenty-two Republicans joined most Democrats to support the bill.
“It’s certainly been years, perhaps decades, since the Senate has passed a bill that so greatly impacts not just our national security, not just the security of our allies, but the security of Western democracy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Schumer told a news conference later on Tuesday he was confident the bill would pass the House with support from both parties if Republican Speaker Mike Johnson would allow a vote.
Moreover, on the on the escalcating war between Israel and Hamas, US President Joe Biden said he’s pushing for a six-week pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages, saying that could lay the groundwork for broader peace.
Such a pause “would bring an immediate and sustained period of calm into Gaza for at least six weeks, which we could then take the time to build something more enduring,” Biden said Monday following a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House.
The war has wrought unimaginable destruction in the Gaza Strip, with more than 28,000 people killed, more than 70 per cent of them women and minors, according to local health officials.
South Africa, which has lodged genocide allegations against Israel at the International Court of Justice, said on Thursday that it filed an “urgent request” with the court to consider whether Israel’s military operations in Rafah constitute a breach of provisional orders handed down by the justices last month.