US Senate Approves Arms Bill for Israel Amid Gaza Conflict, Rejects Measures to Halt Sales

in a major legislative development, the US Senate has approved an arms bill for Israel while rejecting a measure seeking to halt such sales amid the ongoing Gaza war. The vote on the resolution, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders in September, followed a vote of 79 senators against the measure and 18 for it Wednesday. A further two resolutions aimed at prohibiting arms sales were also voted down by slim margins.

The bill was the first effort in congress to hold a vote on arms sales to Israel to block an approximately $20 billion arms deal authorized by the Biden administration. Even though the resolutions failed, their mere arrival on the floor signals a change in the previously bipartisan nature of military funding to Israel without conditions.

Beth Miller, political director for the U.S.-based organization Jewish Voice for Peace, called the vote a milestone in an extended battle to force a re-examination of American military aid to Israel. "This is too late. This is 13 months after the US armed genocide. But this is a very crucial step," Miller told Al Jazeera in an interview.

The resolution was introduced in the Senate by Senator Sanders and had additional support from Senators Peter Welch, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine and Brian Schatz. Senator Kaine, who was the vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party in the 2016 election, said that a "de-escalation and sustained peace" is necessary in the Middle East.

Bipartisan support for aid to Israel comes as demands increase on the United States to reassess its military assistance in light of Israel's conflict with Hamas. War here began Oct. 7, when Hamas carried out an invasion to offset recurrent Israeli military assaults; since then nearly 44,000 Palestinians have reportedly died due to Israeli air raids in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis has drawn mounting international concern and, within the United States, rising calls to reassess military backing for Israel. In the face of such pressures, however, the Biden administration has reaffirmed its intent to sustain assistance to the Israeli government.