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Tag: Foreign aid

  • The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon

    The House votes for possible TikTok ban in the US, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon

    WASHINGTON — The House passed legislation Saturday that would ban TikTok in the United States if the popular social media platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year, but don’t expect the app to go away anytime soon.

    The decision by House Republicans to include TikTok as part of a larger foreign aid package, a priority for President Joe Biden with broad congressional support for Ukraine and Israel, fast-tracked the ban after an earlier version had stalled in the Senate. A standalone bill with a shorter, six-month selling deadline passed the House in March by an overwhelming bipartisan vote as both Democrats and Republicans voiced national security concerns about the app’s owner, the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

    The modified measure, passed by a 360-58 vote, now goes to the Senate after negotiations that lengthened the timeline for the company to sell to nine months, with a possible additional three months if a sale is in progress.

    Legal challenges could extend that timeline even further. The company has indicated that it would likely go to court to try and block the law if it passes, arguing it would deprive the app’s millions of users of their First Amendment rights.

    TikTok has lobbied hard against the legislation, pushing the app’s 170 million U.S. users — many of whom are young — to call Congress and voice opposition. But the ferocity of the pushback angered lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where there is broad concern about Chinese threats to the U.S. and where few members use the platform themselves.

    “We will not stop fighting and advocating for you,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a video that was posted on the platform last month and directed toward the app’s users. “We will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform that we have built with you.”

    The bill’s quick path through Congress is extraordinary because it targets one company and because Congress has taken a hands-off approach to tech regulation for decades. Lawmakers had failed to act despite efforts to protect children online, safeguard users’ privacy and make companies more liable for content posted on their platforms, among other measures. But the TikTok ban reflects widespread concerns from lawmakers about China.

    Members of both parties, along with intelligence officials, have worried that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over American user data or direct the company to suppress or boost TikTok content favorable to its interests. TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government and has said it has not shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities.

    The U.S. government has not publicly provided evidence that shows TikTok shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government or tinkered with the company’s popular algorithm, which influences what Americans see.

    The company has good reason to think a legal challenge could be successful, having seen some success in previous legal fights over its operations in the U.S.. In November, a federal judge blocked a Montana law that would ban TikTok use across the state after the company and five content creators who use the platform sued.

    In 2020, federal courts blocked an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump to ban TikTok after the company sued on the grounds that the order violated free speech and due process rights. His administration brokered a deal that would have had U.S. corporations Oracle and Walmart take a large stake in TikTok. The sale never went through for a number of reasons; one was China, which imposed stricter export controls on its technology providers.

    Dozens of states and the federal government have put in place TikTok bans on government devices. Texas’ ban was challenged last year by The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which argued in a lawsuit that the policy was impeding academic freedom because it extended to public universities. In December, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state.

    Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have backed the app. “Congress cannot take away the rights of over 170 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves, engage in political advocacy, and access information from around the world,” said Jenna Leventoff, a lawyer for the group.

    Since mid-March, TikTok has spent $5 million on TV ads opposing the legislation, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking firm. The ads have included a range of content creators, including a nun, extolling the positive impacts of the platform on their lives and arguing a ban would trample on the First Amendment. The company has also encouraged its users to contact Congress, and some lawmakers have received profanity-laced calls.

    “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” said Alex Haurek, a spokesman for the company.

    California Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, voted against the legislation. He said he thinks there could have been less restrictive ways to go after the company that wouldn’t result in a total ban or threaten free speech.

    “I think it’s not going to be well received,” Khanna said. “It’s a sign of the Beltway being out of touch with where voters are.”

    Nadya Okamoto, a content creator who has roughly 4 million followers on TikTok, said she has been having conversations with other creators who are experiencing “so much anger and anxiety” about the bill and how it’s going to impact their lives. The 26-year-old, whose company “August” sells menstrual products and is known for her advocacy around destigmatizing menstrual periods, makes most of her income from TikTok.

    “This is going to have real repercussions,” she said.

    ___

    Hadero reported from New York.

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  • House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week

    House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week

    House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia.Johnson, R-La., is already under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as well as provide humanitarian aid for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza and funding to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan. The unprecedented attack by Iran on Israel early Sunday further ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to underscore the urgency of approving the funding.Related video above: The top Democrat in the House suggested some Dems could vote to save Speaker Johnson if Republicans try to oust him over Ukraine bill.Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would try this week to advance the aid.”The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Johnson “has made it clear” that he sees a path for funding for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia to come to the House floor this week.The speaker has expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes. Johnson has pushed for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports and at times has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.But currently, the only package with wide bipartisan support in Congress is the Senate-passed bill that includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.Video below: Sen. Chris Coons calls on House to pass supplemental foreign aid package following Iran attack; urges Israel to “pause for a moment” before respondingWhite House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the speaker to put that package “on the floor as soon as possible.””We didn’t need any reminders in terms of what’s going on in Ukraine,” Kirby said on NBC. “But last night certainly underscores significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very tough neighborhood.” As Johnson searches for a way to advance the funding for Ukraine, he has been in conversations with both the White House and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.With his job under threat, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an event with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump expressed support for Johnson and said he had a “very good relationship” with him.”He and I are 100% united on these big agenda items,” Johnson said. “When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he’s introduced the loan-lease concept which is a really important one and I think has a lot of consensus.”But Trump, with his “America First” agenda, has inspired many Republicans to push for a more isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded in the roughly two years since the war began, and a cause that once enjoyed wide support has become one of Johnson’s toughest problems.When he returns to Washington on Monday, Johnson also will be facing a contingent of conservatives already angry with how he has led the House in maintaining much of the status quo both on government spending and more recently, a U.S. government surveillance tool.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has called for Johnson’s ouster. She departed the Capitol on Friday telling reporters that support for her effort was growing.While no other Republicans have openly joined Greene, a growing number of hardline conservatives are openly disparaging Johnson and defying his leadership.Meanwhile, senior GOP lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine are growing frustrated with the months-long wait to bring it to the House floor. Kyiv’s troops have been running low on ammunition and Russia is becoming emboldened as it looks to gain ground in a spring and summer offensive. A massive missile and drone attack destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others last week.”Russia is beginning to gain ground. Ukraine is beginning to lose the ability to defend itself,” Turner said. “The United States must step up and provide Ukraine the weapons that they need.”The divided dynamic has forced Johnson to try to stitch together a package that has some policy wins for Republicans while also keeping Democrats on board. Democrats, however, have repeatedly called on the speaker to put the $95 billion package passed by the Senate in February on the floor. Although progressive Democrats have resisted supporting the aid to Israel over concerns it would support its campaign into Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, most House Democrats have gotten behind supporting the Senate package.”The reason why the Senate bill is the only bill is because of the urgency,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week. “We pass the Senate bill, it goes straight to the president’s desk and you start getting the aid to Ukraine immediately. That’s the only option.”Many Democrats also have signaled they would likely be willing to help Johnson defeat an effort to remove him from the speaker’s office if he puts the Senate bill on the floor.”I’m one of those who would save him if we can do Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and some reasonable border security,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat.___Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed.

    WASHINGTON —

    House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia.

    Johnson, R-La., is already under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as well as provide humanitarian aid for civilians in Ukraine and Gaza and funding to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan.

    The unprecedented attack by Iran on Israel early Sunday further ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson, but also gave him an opportunity to underscore the urgency of approving the funding.

    Related video above: The top Democrat in the House suggested some Dems could vote to save Speaker Johnson if Republicans try to oust him over Ukraine bill.

    Johnson told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he and Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel” and he would try this week to advance the aid.

    “The details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

    GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Johnson “has made it clear” that he sees a path for funding for Israel, Ukraine and allies in Asia to come to the House floor this week.

    The speaker has expressed support for legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes. Johnson has pushed for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports and at times has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.

    But currently, the only package with wide bipartisan support in Congress is the Senate-passed bill that includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

    Video below: Sen. Chris Coons calls on House to pass supplemental foreign aid package following Iran attack; urges Israel to “pause for a moment” before responding


    White House national security spokesman John Kirby called on the speaker to put that package “on the floor as soon as possible.”

    “We didn’t need any reminders in terms of what’s going on in Ukraine,” Kirby said on NBC. “But last night certainly underscores significantly the threat that Israel faces in a very, very tough neighborhood.”

    As Johnson searches for a way to advance the funding for Ukraine, he has been in conversations with both the White House and former president Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

    With his job under threat, Johnson traveled to Florida on Friday for an event with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump expressed support for Johnson and said he had a “very good relationship” with him.

    “He and I are 100% united on these big agenda items,” Johnson said. “When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he’s introduced the loan-lease concept which is a really important one and I think has a lot of consensus.”

    But Trump, with his “America First” agenda, has inspired many Republicans to push for a more isolationist stance. Support for Ukraine has steadily eroded in the roughly two years since the war began, and a cause that once enjoyed wide support has become one of Johnson’s toughest problems.

    When he returns to Washington on Monday, Johnson also will be facing a contingent of conservatives already angry with how he has led the House in maintaining much of the status quo both on government spending and more recently, a U.S. government surveillance tool.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a right-wing Republican from Georgia, has called for Johnson’s ouster. She departed the Capitol on Friday telling reporters that support for her effort was growing.

    While no other Republicans have openly joined Greene, a growing number of hardline conservatives are openly disparaging Johnson and defying his leadership.

    Meanwhile, senior GOP lawmakers who support aid to Ukraine are growing frustrated with the months-long wait to bring it to the House floor. Kyiv’s troops have been running low on ammunition and Russia is becoming emboldened as it looks to gain ground in a spring and summer offensive. A massive missile and drone attack destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others last week.

    “Russia is beginning to gain ground. Ukraine is beginning to lose the ability to defend itself,” Turner said. “The United States must step up and provide Ukraine the weapons that they need.”

    The divided dynamic has forced Johnson to try to stitch together a package that has some policy wins for Republicans while also keeping Democrats on board. Democrats, however, have repeatedly called on the speaker to put the $95 billion package passed by the Senate in February on the floor.

    Although progressive Democrats have resisted supporting the aid to Israel over concerns it would support its campaign into Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, most House Democrats have gotten behind supporting the Senate package.

    “The reason why the Senate bill is the only bill is because of the urgency,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said last week. “We pass the Senate bill, it goes straight to the president’s desk and you start getting the aid to Ukraine immediately. That’s the only option.”

    Many Democrats also have signaled they would likely be willing to help Johnson defeat an effort to remove him from the speaker’s office if he puts the Senate bill on the floor.

    “I’m one of those who would save him if we can do Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and some reasonable border security,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed.

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  • Top UN court will hold hearings in a case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel’s Gaza conflict

    Top UN court will hold hearings in a case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel’s Gaza conflict

    THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Preliminary hearings open Monday at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end of German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

    Israel strongly denies its military campaign amounts to breaches of the Genocide Convention.

    While the case brought by Nicaragua centers on Germany, it indirectly takes aim at Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its toll doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, but it has said women and children make up the majority of the dead.

    “We are calm and we will set out our legal position in court,” German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer said ahead of the hearings.

    “We reject Nicaragua’s accusations,” Fischer told reporters in Berlin on Friday. “Germany has breached neither the genocide convention nor international humanitarian law, and we will set this out in detail before the International Court of Justice.”

    Nicaragua has asked the court to hand down preliminary orders known as provisional measures, including that Germany “immediately suspend its aid to Israel, in particular its military assistance including military equipment in so far as this aid may be used in the violation of the Genocide Convention” and international law.

    The court will likely take weeks to deliver its preliminary decision and Nicaragua’s case will likely drag on for years.

    Monday’s hearing at the world court comes amid growing calls for allies to stop supplying arms to Israel as its six-month campaign continues to lay waste to Gaza.

    The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s population. Food is scarce, the U.N. says famine is approaching and few Palestinians have been able to leave the besieged territory.

    “The case next week in The Hague will likely further galvanize opposition to any support for Israel,” said Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame.

    On Friday, the U.N.’s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel. The United States and Germany opposed the resolution.

    Also, hundreds of British jurists, including three retired Supreme Court judges, have called on their government to suspend arms sales to Israel after three U.K. citizens were among seven aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen killed in Israeli strikes. Israel said the attack on the aid workers was a mistake caused by “misidentification.”

    Germany has for decades been a staunch supporter of Israel. Days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained why: “Our own history, our responsibility arising from the Holocaust, makes it a perpetual task for us to stand up for the security of the state of Israel,” he told lawmakers.

    Berlin, however, has gradually shifted its tone as civilian casualties in Gaza have soared, becoming increasingly critical of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and spoken out against a ground offensive in Rafah.

    Nicaragua’s government, which has historical links with Palestinian organizations dating back to their support for the 1979 Sandinista revolution, was itself accused earlier this year by U.N.-backed human rights experts of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity.” The government of President Daniel Ortega fiercely rejected the allegations.

    In January, the ICJ imposed provisional measures ordering Israel to do all it can to prevent death, destruction and acts of genocide in Gaza. The orders came in a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention.

    The court last week ordered Israel to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into the war-ravaged enclave.

    On Friday, Israel said it’s taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into northern Gaza.

    Nicaragua argues that by giving Israel political, financial and military support and by defunding the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide and, in any case has failed in its obligation to do everything possible to prevent the commission of genocide.”

    Israel strongly denies that its assault amounts to genocidal acts, saying it is acting in self defense. Israeli legal advisor Tal Becker told judges at the court in January that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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  • Another top donor says it will resume funding the UN agency for Palestinians as Gaza hunger grows

    Another top donor says it will resume funding the UN agency for Palestinians as Gaza hunger grows

    NICOSIA, Cyprus — Another top donor to the U.N. agency aiding Palestinians said Saturday that it would resume funding, weeks after more than a dozen countries halted hundreds of millions of dollars of support in response to Israeli allegations against the organization.

    Sweden’s reversal came as a ship bearing tons of humanitarian aid was preparing to leave Cyprus for Gaza after international donors launched a sea corridor to supply the besieged territory facing widespread hunger after five months of war.

    Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters late Saturday that the ship would depart “within the next 24 hours.” World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés told The Associated Press that all necessary permits, including from Israel, had been secured, and circumstances delaying departure were primarily weather-related.

    Sweden’s funding decision followed similar ones by the European Union and Canada as the U.N. agency known as UNRWA warns that it could collapse and leave Gaza’s already desperate population of more than 2 million people with even less medical and other assistance.

    “The humanitarian situation in Gaza is devastating and the needs are acute,” Swedish development minister Johan Forssell said, adding that UNRWA had agreed to increased transparency and stricter controls. Sweden will give UNRWA half of the $38 million funding it promised for this year, with more to come.

    Israel had accused 12 of UNRWA’s thousands of employees of participating in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. Countries including the United States quickly suspended funding to UNRWA worth about $450 million, almost half its budget for the year. The U.N. has launched investigations, and UNRWA has been agreeing to outside audits to win back donor support.

    On the eve of Ramadan, hungry Gaza residents scrambled for packages of food supplies dropped by U.S. and Jordanian military planes — a method of delivery that humanitarian groups call deeply inadequate compared to ground deliveries. But the daily number of aid trucks entering Gaza since the war has been far below the 500 that entered before Oct. 7 because of Israeli restrictions and security issues.

    People dashed through devastated Gaza City neighborhoods as the parachuting aid descended. “I have orphans, I want to feed them!” one woman cried.

    “The issue of aid is brutal and no one accepts it,” said another resident, Momen Mahra, claiming that most airdropped aid falls into the sea. “We want better methods.”

    The U.S. military said that its planes airdropped more than 41,000 “meal equivalents” and 23,000 bottles of water into northern Gaza, the hardest part of the enclave to access.

    The Health Ministry in Gaza said that two more people, including a 2-month-old infant, had died as a result of malnutrition, raising the total dying from hunger in the war to 25. Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said the toll included only people brought to hospitals.

    Overall, the ministry said at least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. It doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tallies but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and its figures from previous wars have largely matched those of the U.N. and independent experts.

    The opening of the sea delivery corridor, along with the airdrops, showed increasing frustration with Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and a new willingness to work around Israeli restrictions. The sea corridor is backed by the EU together with the United States, the United Arab Emirates and other involved countries. The European Commission has said that U.N. agencies and the Red Cross will also play a role.

    President Joe Biden said Saturday that he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel” in how he is approaching its war against Hamas in Gaza. Speaking to MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, the U.S. leader expressed support for Israel’s right to pursue Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack, but said of Netanyahu “he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken.”

    The ship belonging to Spain’s Open Arms aid group was expected to make a pilot voyage to test the corridor as early as this weekend. The ship has been waiting at Cyprus’s port of Larnaca. Israel has said it welcomed the maritime corridor but cautioned that it would need security checks.

    Open Arms founder Oscar Camps has said the ship pulling a barge with 200 tons of rice and flour would take two to three days to arrive at an undisclosed location where World Central Kitchen was constructing a pier to receive it.

    Biden separately has announced a plan to build a temporary pier in Gaza to help deliver aid, underscoring how the U.S. has to go around Israel, its main Middle East ally and the top recipient of U.S. military aid. Israel accuses Hamas of commandeering some aid deliveries.

    United States officials said it will likely be weeks before the pier is operational. The executive director of the U.S. arm of medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Avril Benoit, in a statement criticized the U.S. plan as a “glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege.”

    Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, has said air and sea deliveries can’t make up for a shortage of supply routes on land.

    Meanwhile, efforts to reach a cease-fire before Ramadan appeared stalled. Hamas said Thursday that its delegation had left Cairo until next week.

    International mediators had hoped to alleviate some of the immediate crisis with a six-week cease-fire, which would have seen Hamas release some of the Israeli hostages it’s holding, Israel release some Palestinian prisoners and aid groups be given access for a major influx of assistance into Gaza.

    Palestinian militants are believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others captured during the Oct. 7 attack. Several dozen hostages were freed in a weeklong November truce.

    In Lebanon, state media said five people were killed and at least nine injured by an Israeli airstrike on a house in the town of Khirbet Selm in the country’s south.

    Near-daily clashes have been happening in the Lebanon-Israel border area between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces in the past five months.

    Israeli strikes have killed abound 300 people there, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups, but also including about 40 civilians. On the Israeli side, at least nine soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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  • Palestinians: Israeli troops fired at people seeking food

    Palestinians: Israeli troops fired at people seeking food

    RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops fired on a crowd of Palestinians racing to pull food off an aid convoy in Gaza City on Thursday, witnesses said. More than 100 people were killed in the chaos, bringing the death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to more than 30,000, according to health officials.

    Israel said many of the dead were trampled in a chaotic stampede for the food aid and that its troops only fired when they felt endangered by the crowd.

    The violence was quickly condemned by Arab countries, and U.S. President Joe Biden expressed concern it would add to the difficulty of negotiating a cease-fire in the nearly five-month conflict.

    The Gaza City area was among the first targets of Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel.

    While many Palestinians fled the invasion in the north of the enclave, a few hundred thousand are believed to remain in the largely devastated and isolated region. Several deliveries of aid reached the area this week, officials said.

    The deadly chaos in Gaza City will likely fuel criticism of Israel when it comes to allowing aid in.

    Aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to deliver supplies in most of Gaza because of the difficulty of coordinating with the Israeli military, ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of public order, with crowds of desperate people overwhelming aid convoys. The U.N. says a quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians face starvation; around 80% have fled their homes.

    Military officials said the pre-dawn convoy of 30 trucks driving to northern Gaza were met by huge crowds of people trying to grab the aid they were carrying. Dozens of Palestinians were killed in the stampede, and some were run over by the trucks as the drivers tried to get away, said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson.

    Israeli troops guarding the area fired warning shots toward the crowd because they felt endangered, he said.

    “We didn’t open fire on those seeking aid. Contrary to the accusations, we didn’t open fire on a humanitarian aid convoy, not from the air and not from land. We secured it so it could reach northern Gaza,” he said.

    Kamel Abu Nahel, who was being treated for a gunshot wound at Shifa Hospital, said he and others went to the distribution point in the middle of the night because they heard there would be a delivery of food. “We’ve been eating animal feed for two months,” he said.

    He said Israeli troops opened fire on the crowd as people pulled boxes of flour and canned goods off the trucks, causing the Palestinians to scatter, with some hiding under cars. After the shooting stopped, people went back to the trucks, and the soldiers opened fire again. He was shot in the leg and fell over, and then a truck ran over his leg as it sped off, he said.

    At least 112 people were killed, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said. The ministry described it as a “massacre” and said more than 700 others were injured.

    Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan accused Israel of targeting civilians in the incident. In separate statements, they called for increased safe passages for humanitarian aid. They also urged the international community to take decisive action to pressure Israel to abide by international law and to reach an agreement for an immediate cease-fire.

    Biden spoke with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar about the deaths, according to U.S. officials, and the U.N. Security Council scheduled emergency closed consultations on them for later Thursday.

    “We are urgently seeking additional information on exactly what took place,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

    The increasing alarm over hunger across Gaza has fueled international calls for a cease-fire, and the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are working to secure a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of some of the hostages Hamas took during its Oct. 7 attack.

    Mediators hope to reach an agreement before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starts around March 10. But so far, Israel and Hamas have remained far apart in public on their demands.

    Biden had earlier expressed hope that a deal would be done by Monday. He said Thursday that looked unlikely.

    “Hope springs eternal,” Biden told reporters. “I was on the telephone with people from the region. Probably not by Monday, but I’m hopeful.”

    When asked if the bloodshed in Gaza City on Thursday would complicate those efforts, he said, “I know it will.”

    In a statement condemning Thursday’s attack, Hamas said it would not allow the negotiations “to be a cover for the enemy to continue its crimes.”

    Medics arriving at the scene of the bloodshed Thursday found “dozens or hundreds” lying on the ground, according to Fares Afana, the head of the ambulance service at Kamal Adwan Hospital. He said there were not enough ambulances to collect all the dead and wounded and that some were being brought to hospitals in donkey carts.

    Another man in the crowd — who gave only his first name, Ahmad, as he was being treated at a hospital for gunshot wounds to the arm and leg — said he waited for two hours before someone with a horse-drawn cart had room to take him to Shifa.

    The violence came more than a month after witnesses and health officials in Gaza accused Israeli troops of firing on a previous aid distribution in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people.

    Dr. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of the Al-Awda Hospital, said the facility received 161 wounded patients, most of whom appeared to have been shot. He said the hospital can perform only the most essential surgeries because it is running out of fuel to power emergency generators.

    The Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,035, with another 70,457 wounded. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

    The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza, maintains detailed records of casualties. Its counts from previous wars have largely matched those of the U.N., independent experts and even Israel’s own tallies.

    The Hamas attack into southern Israel that ignited the war killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the militants seized around 250 hostages. Hamas and other militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 more, after releasing most of the other captives during a November cease-fire.

    Violence has also surged across the West Bank since Oct. 7. An attacker shot and killed two Israelis at a gas station in the settlement of Eli on Thursday, according to the Israeli military. The attacker was killed, the military said.

    Meanwhile, U.N. officials have warned of further mass casualties if Israel follows through on vows to attack the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has taken refuge. They also say a Rafah offensive could decimate what remains of aid operations.

    Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to remain in northern Gaza despite Israeli orders to evacuate the area in October, and many have been reduced to eating animal fodder to survive. The U.N. says 1 in 6 children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting.

    COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said around 50 aid trucks entered northern Gaza this week. It was unclear who delivered the aid. Some countries have resorted to airdrops in recent days.

    The World Food Program said earlier this month that it was pausing deliveries to the north because of the growing chaos, after desperate Palestinians emptied a convoy while it was en route.

    Since launching its assault on Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has barred entry of food, water, medicine and other supplies, except for a trickle of aid entering the south from Egypt at the Rafah crossing and Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing. Despite international calls to allow in more aid, the number of supply trucks is far less than the 500 that came in daily before the war.

    By WAFAA SHURAFA, KAREEM CHEHAYEB and MELANIE LIDMAN – Associated Press

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  • Netanyahu says a cease-fire deal would only delay ‘somewhat’ an Israeli military offensive in Rafah

    Netanyahu says a cease-fire deal would only delay ‘somewhat’ an Israeli military offensive in Rafah

    TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli military offensive in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah could be “delayed somewhat” if a deal is reached for a weekslong cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, and claimed that total victory in the territory would come within weeks once the offensive begins.

    Netanyahu confirmed to CBS that a deal is in the works, with no details. Talks resumed Sunday in Qatar at the specialist level, Egypt’s state-run Al Qahera TV reported, citing an Egyptian official as saying discussions would follow in Cairo with the aim of achieving the cease-fire and release of dozens of hostages held in Gaza as well as Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

    Meanwhile, Israel is nearing the approval of plans to expand its offensive against the Hamas militant group to Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, where more than half the besieged territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge. Humanitarian groups warn of a catastrophe. Rafah is Gaza’s main entry point for aid. The U.S. and other allies say Israel must avoid harming civilians.

    Netanyahu has said he will convene the Cabinet this week to approve operational plans that include the evacuation of civilians to elsewhere in Gaza.

    “Once we begin the Rafah operation, the intense phase of the fighting is weeks away from completion. Not months,” Netanyahu told CBS. ““If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway.” He said four of the six remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated in Rafah.

    U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC that President Joe Biden hadn’t been briefed on the Rafah plan. “We believe that this operation should not go forward until or unless we see (a plan to protect civilians),” Sullivan said.

    Early Monday, Netanyahu’s office said the army had presented to the War Cabinet its “operational plan” for Rafah as well as plans to evacuate civilians from the battle zones. It gave no further details.

    His office also said the War Cabinet had approved a plan to deliver humanitarian aid safely into Gaza.

    United Nations agencies and aid groups say the hostilities, the Israeli military’s refusal to facilitate deliveries and the breakdown of order inside Gaza make it increasingly difficult to get vital aid to much of the coastal enclave. In some chaotic scenes, crowds of desperate Palestinians have surrounded delivery trucks and stolen the supplies off them.

    Heavy fighting continued in parts of northern Gaza, the first target of the offensive, where the destruction is staggering.

    “We’re trapped, unable to move because of the heavy bombardment,” said Gaza City resident Ayman Abu Awad.

    He said that starving residents have been forced to eat animal fodder and search for food in demolished buildings. In nearby Jabaliya, market vendor Um Ayad showed off a leafy weed that people pick from the harsh, dry soil and eat.

    “We have to feed the children. They keep screaming they want food. We cannot find food. We don’t know what to do,” she said.

    Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the U.N. agency for Palestinians, said it has not been able to deliver food to northern Gaza since Jan. 23, adding on X, formerly Twitter, that “our calls to send food aid have been denied.”

    Israel said that 245 trucks of aid entered Gaza on Sunday — less than half the amount that entered daily before the war.

    A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and Hamas, has said the draft cease-fire deal includes the release of up to 40 women and older hostages in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, minors and older people.

    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said the proposed six-week pause in fighting would include allowing hundreds of trucks to bring desperately needed aid into Gaza every day, including the north. He said both sides agreed to continue negotiations during the pause for further releases and a permanent cease-fire.

    Negotiators face an unofficial deadline of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan around March 10, a period that often sees heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

    Hamas says it has not been involved in the latest proposal developed by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, but the reported outline largely matches its earlier proposal for the first phase of a truce.

    Hamas has said it won’t release all of the remaining hostages until Israel ends its offensive and withdraws its forces from the territory, and is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants. Netanyahu has rejected those conditions.

    Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday made clear that a cease-fire deal for Gaza wouldn’t affect the military’s daily low-level clashes with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.

    “We will continue the fire, and we will do so independently from the south,” he said while visiting the Northern Command.

    Israel declared war after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostages. More than 100 hostages were released in a cease-fire deal in November. More than 130 remain in captivity, a fourth of them believed to be dead.

    Families have followed the negotiations with hope and anguish.

    “It feels like Schindler’s list. Will he be on the list or not?” Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of Omer, 21, told Israeli Army Radio of his chances of being freed.

    Israel’s air and ground offensive has driven around 80% of Gaza’s population from their homes, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation and the spread of disease. The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says 29,692 Palestinians have been killed in the war, two-thirds of them women and children.

    The ministry’s death toll doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says its troops have killed more than 10,000 militants, without providing evidence.

    The war has devastated Gaza’s health sector. Less than half of hospitals even partially function.

    At the Emirates Hospital in Rafah, three to four newborns are placed in each of its 20 incubators, which are designed for just one.

    Dr. Amal Ismail said two to three newborns die in a single shift, in part because many families live in tents in rainy, cold weather. Before the war, one or two newborns in incubators there died per month.

    “No matter how much we work with them, it is all wasted,” she said. “Health conditions in tents are very bad.”

    ___

    Wafaa Shurafa reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip, and Samy Magdy from Cairo.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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  • US aid to Ukraine hinges on House Speaker Johnson. His leadership is being tested by the far right

    US aid to Ukraine hinges on House Speaker Johnson. His leadership is being tested by the far right

    WASHINGTON — When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with congressional leaders in Washington late last year he told them privately what is now public: With U.S. weapons, they could win the war against Russia, but without them Russian President Vladimir Putin would be victorious.

    In a subsequent meeting with new House Speaker Mike Johnson, a looming deadline for the supplies came into focus.

    Now, with U.S. aid for Ukraine teetering in Congress, it’s up to Johnson to decide what happens next.

    The Republican’s leadership will determine whether the House will agree to approve more aid for Ukraine or allow the U.S. commitment to wither, the end of the line for the embattled young democracy in Kyiv.

    President Joe Biden said he told Zelenskyy in a Saturday phone call after Ukraine announced it was withdrawing troops from the eastern city of Avdiivka that he remained confident that the U.S. funding would eventually come through. But asked in an exchange with reporters if he was confident whether a deal could be made before Ukraine loses more territory to Russian, Biden responded, “I’m not.”

    “Look Ukrainians have fought so bravely,” he said. “There is so much on the line. The idea now when they are running out of ammunition that we’re going to walk away. I find it absurd.”

    Zelenskyy said at a news conference with Vice President Kamala Harris in Germany that Ukraine was counting on a “positive decision” from Congress for the “vital” aid from its “strategic partner.” Earlier at a security conference in Munich, he warned of an “artificial deficit” of arms for his country.

    The political and policy decisions ahead in Congress are gravely uncertain. Johnson is insisting he won’t be “rushed” into approving the $95.3 billion foreign aid package from the Senate, despite overwhelming support from most Democrats and almost half the Republicans. But he has yet to chart a path forward in his chamber.

    While many in Congress view Putin as a global threat, particularly after Russia intervened in the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump, Johnson’s colleagues on the far right are increasingly ambivalent about Putin’s aggression and authoritarian leadership, as seen in conservative Tucker Carlson’s admiring videos from Moscow after his recent interview with the Russian leader.

    Even the sudden death of Alexei Navalny, the most famous political prisoner in Russia and Putin’s biggest rival, did not appear to move the House speaker Friday to commit to support for Ukraine.

    “As Congress debates the best path forward to support Ukraine, the United States, and our partners, must be using every means available to cut off Putin’s ability to fund his unprovoked war in Ukraine and aggression against the Baltic states,” Johnson, R-La., said in a statement.

    Just months on the job, the new speaker is prone to dithering on big questions of the day as he tries to unite his deeply fractured but paper-thin House GOP majority, which is filled with up-and-coming figures challenging his leadership and, at times, threatening his ouster.

    In one of his first interviews since taking the gavel in October, Johnson told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Congress was “not going to abandon” Ukraine.

    But in the months since, Johnson’s bottom-up leadership style, in which he tries to hear out all comers, has created a leadership vacuum on Ukraine aid that others are increasingly willing and able to fill.

    Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a Trump ally who opposes more aid to Ukraine, said he hopes to lead a new generation of Republican lawmakers eager to turn away from traditional GOP interventionism around the world.

    Gaetz said he believes additional U.S. military aid for Ukraine risks escalating the conflict in ways potentially harmful to Americans.

    “And I think that is a lot more significant to my constituents than which dude gets to run Crimea,” Gaetz said, referring to the region Russia has claimed from Ukraine as its own.

    If the $95 billion aid package was put to a vote, Johnson would find overwhelming support in the House from a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Anchoring the package is $61 billion for Ukraine, mainly in the form of military equipment from the U.S. It also sends foreign assistance and humanitarian aid to Israel, Gaza and allies in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan.

    “There is only Plan A, which is to ensure that Ukraine receives what it needs,” Harris said alongside Zelenskyy in Munich. She added that “we must be unwavering and we cannot play political games.”

    Biden and the Democratic congressional leaders are imploring the speaker to cast off his right wing and join forces with them to send a sweeping bipartisan message of U.S. leadership in supporting Ukraine and confirming the U.S. commitment to its allies around the world, especially as Trump criticizes the NATO alliance.

    “House Republicans can either choose America’s national security interests or choose Vladimir Putin and Russia — that is not a difficult choice,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said after speaking with Johnson midweek.

    “The national security bill should be put on the floor for an up or down vote, and it will pass with overwhelming support from Democrats and Republicans,” Jeffries said.

    But for Johnson, eyeing his own political future, the choices are different. If he reaches across the aisle to Democrats for a partnership, he is likely to face immediate calls for his ouster. That’s what happened when the far right booted his predecessor, former GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, after he joined forces with Democrats to pass legislation last fall to keep the federal government from shutting down.

    Congress is away for a recess, but various coalitions of lawmakers have stepped into the void trying to engineer solutions to help Johnson broker the divide.

    One idea, from centrist Republican and Democratic lawmakers, would be to scale back the package to $66 billion, primarily military aid, with nearly $48 billion for Ukraine, but without the economic or humanitarian aid of the Senate-passed bill. It also would tack on strict immigration controls on the U.S.-Mexico border similar to some that Republicans had pushed for, but ultimately rejected, in the Senate compromise.

    Another idea is to seize some of the $300 billion in Russian assets that are parked in U.S. banks, something the Biden administration has considered and Johnson appeared to reference in his statement Friday as he searches for ways to avoid using taxpayer money to pay for the military aid to Ukraine.

    One long-shot proposal would be to use a procedural tool, known as a discharge petition, to force the House to vote on the Senate package. But that would require a level of support that appears out of reach on both sides of the aisle.

    Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, an Air Force veteran who recently traveled to the Baltic region where National Guard troops from her state partnered with Lithuanian allies, said “it boggles my mind” that colleagues don’t understand the Russia threat.

    When Johnson said the House will “work its will” rather than take up the Senate package, Houlahan said the House’s “will” is to vote for it.

    “He knows better than this — that there are more than 300 of us who are willing to vote for this package,” she said.

    “He is the speaker of the House,” she said. “He is not the speaker of the Republicans.”

    ___

    AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Munich and AP writer Aamer Madhani in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.

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  • Senate passes a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, but fate in the House is uncertain

    Senate passes a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, but fate in the House is uncertain


    WASHINGTON — The Senate early Tuesday passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.

    The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours of debate to argue that the U.S. should focus on its own problems before sending more money overseas. But 22 Republicans voted with nearly all Democrats to pass the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that abandoning Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security across the globe.

    “With this bill, the Senate declares that American leadership will not waiver, will not falter, will not fail,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who worked closely with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on the legislation.

    The bill’s passage through the Senate was a welcome sign for Ukraine amid critical shortages on the battlefield.

    Yet the package faces a deeply uncertain future in the House, where hardline Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump — the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, and a critic of support for Ukraine — oppose the legislation.

    Speaker Mike Johnson cast new doubt on the package in a statement Monday evening, making clear that it could be weeks or months before Congress sends the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk — if at all.

    Still, the vote was a win for both Senate leaders. Schumer noted the strong bipartisan support and projected that if the House speaker brings it forward it would have the same strong support in that chamber. McConnell has made Ukraine his top priority in recent months, and was resolute in the face of considerable pushback from his own GOP conference.

    “History settles every account,” the longtime Republican leader said in a statement after the bill’s passage. “And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink.”

    Dollars provided by the legislation would purchase U.S.-made defense equipment, including munitions and air defense systems that authorities say are desperately needed as Russia batters the country. It also includes $8 billion for the government in Kyiv and other assistance.

    “For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media. “It means that life will continue in our cities and will triumph over war.”

    In addition, the legislation would provide $14 billion for Israel’s war with Hamas, $8 billion for Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific to counter China, and $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza.

    Progressive lawmakers have objected to sending offensive weaponry to Israel, and two Democrats, Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent of Vermont, voted against it.

    “I cannot in good conscience support sending billions of additional taxpayer dollars for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s military campaign in Gaza,” Welch said. “It’s a campaign that has killed and wounded a shocking number of civilians. It’s created a massive humanitarian crisis.”

    The bill’s passage followed almost five months of torturous negotiations over an expansive bill that would have paired the foreign aid with an overhaul of border and asylum policies. Republicans demanded the trade-off, saying the surge of migration into the United States had to be addressed alongside the security of allies.

    But a bipartisan deal on border security fell apart just days after its unveiling, a head-spinning development that left negotiators deeply frustrated. Republicans declared the bill insufficient and blocked it on the Senate floor.

    After the border bill collapsed, the two leaders abandoned the border provisions and pushed forward with passing the foreign aid package alone — as Democrats had originally intended.

    While the slimmed-down foreign aid bill eventually won a healthy showing of GOP support, several Republicans who had previously expressed support for Ukraine voted against it. The episode further exposed divisions in the party, made more public as Trump dug in and a handful of lawmakers openly called for McConnell to step down.

    Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, argued that the U.S. should step back from the conflict and help broker an end to it with Russia’s Putin. He questioned the wisdom of continuing to fuel Ukraine’s defense when Putin appears committed to fighting for years.

    “I think it deals with the reality that we’re living in, which is they’re a more powerful country, and it’s their region of the world,” he said.

    Vance, along with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other opponents, spent several hours on the floor railing against the aid and complaining about Senate process. They dug in their heels to delay a final vote, speaking on the floor until daybreak.

    Supporters of the aid pushed back, warning that bowing to Russia would be a historic mistake with devastating consequences. In an unusually raw back-and-forth, GOP senators who support the aid challenged some of the opponents directly on the floor.

    North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis angrily rebutted some of their arguments, noting that the money would only help Ukraine for less than a year and that much of it would go to replenishing U.S. military stocks.

    “Why am I so focused on this vote?” Tillis said. “Because I don’t want to be on the pages of history that we will regret if we walk away. You will see the alliance that is supporting Ukraine crumble. You will ultimately see China become emboldened. And I am not going to be on that page of history.”

    Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., became emotional as he talked about the drudgery of the Senate and spending time away from his family to get little done. “But every so often there are issues that come before us that seem to be the ones that explain why we are here,” he said, his voice cracking.

    Moran conceded that the cost of the package was heavy for him, but pointed out that if Putin were to attack a NATO member in Europe, the U.S. would be bound by treaty to become directly involved in the conflict — a commitment that Trump has called into question as he seeks another term in the White House.

    At a rally Saturday, Trump said that he had once told a NATO ally he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to members that are “delinquent” in their commitments to the alliance. The former president has led his party away from the foreign policy doctrines of aggressive American involvement overseas and toward an “America First” isolationism.

    Evoking the slogan, Moran said, “I believe in America first, but unfortunately America first means we have to engage in the world.”

    In the House, many Republicans have opposed the aid and are unlikely to cross Trump, but some key GOP lawmakers have signaled they will push to get it passed.

    House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, traveled to Ukraine last week with a bipartisan delegation and met with Zelenskyy. Turner posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the trip that “I reiterated America’s commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.”

    But Speaker Johnson is in a tough position. A majority of his conference opposes the aid, and he is trying to lead the narrowest of majorities and avoid the fate of his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted in October.

    Johnson, R-La., said in a statement Monday that because the foreign aid package lacks border security provisions, it is “silent on the most pressing issue facing our country.” It was the latest — and potentially most consequential — sign of opposition to the Ukraine aid from House GOP leadership, who had rejected the bipartisan border plan as a “non-starter,” contributing to its rapid demise.

    “Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” Johnson said. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”

    Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, traveled to Kyiv last week with Turner and other House members. She said the trip underscored to her how Ukraine is still in a fight for its very existence.

    During a meeting with Zelenskyy, she said the U.S. lawmakers tried to offer assurances that the American people still stand with his country.

    “He was clear that our continued support is critical to their ability to win the war,” Spanberger said. “It’s critical to their own freedom. And importantly, it’s critical to U.S. national security interests.”

    ___

    Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.



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  • Full list of Republicans who voted to advance Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan aid

    Full list of Republicans who voted to advance Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan aid


    The Senate in a procedural vote on Thursday advanced a $95.34 billion foreign funding package that would give aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, with the help of 17 Republicans.

    The aid package includes $61 billion for Ukraine in its war with Russia, $14 billion for Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza, and $4.83 billion to help America’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan. The package will also give $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid to conflict zones like Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

    The package advanced to debate with a 67 to 32 vote. The 17 Republicans who voted to advance the package are:

    • Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
    • Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
    • Susan Collins of Maine
    • John Cornyn of Texas
    • Joni Ernst of Iowa
    • Chuck Grassley of Iowa
    • John Kennedy of Louisiana
    • Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
    • Jerry Moran of Kansas
    • Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
    • Mitt Romney of Utah
    • Mike Rounds of South Dakota
    • Dan Sullivan of Alaska
    • John Thune of South Dakota
    • Thom Tillis of North Carolina
    • Roger Wicker of Mississippi
    • Todd Young of Indiana.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said that Thursday’s vote is “a good first step.”

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on February 6, 2024, in Washington, D.C. The Senate voted to advance a $95.34 billion foreign funding package that would…


    Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Andrew Desiderio, a senior congressional reporter for Punchbowl News wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday that there is “still a long way to go” but that “this is a small win for Schumer and McConnell.”

    McConnell, the Senate minority leader, has tried to get Ukraine funding passed for months but faced roadblocks with dwindling support for the country among his GOP colleagues.

    Newsweek reached out to McConnell’s and Schumer’s offices via email for comment.

    The vote to advance the aid package comes after the Senate failed to pass a deal that would have included foreign aid along with an additional $20 billion to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and policy changes to America’s immigration system.

    The Senate came up 11 votes shy of the 60 needed for the border and foreign aid deal to move forward. The final vote was 50 to 49.

    Republicans in Congress took issue with the original deal because of the border legislation in it. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, called it a “bad bill” on Fox Business’ Varney & Company on Thursday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said the bill was “even worse than we expected” when the language of it was released.

    Although GOP members of Congress did not like the deal, they say they still wanted to address the situation at the southern border, which they have called a crisis.

    Cruz told Newsweek before the vote for the aid package on Thursday that he would “not vote for additional funding to secure Ukraine’s border until we secure our own borders.”

    Critics accused Republicans in Congress of opposing the border deal because they say former President Trump, who is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, wants to campaign on the situation at the southern border.

    If the foreign aid package is eventually passed in the Senate, it is unclear how the House will vote. While Johnson has tried and failed to pass funding for Israel for months, dozens of GOP members in the House, particularly MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans who have close ties with Trump, have voted against Ukraine aid. Johnson is one who has opposed more funding for Ukraine.

    Newsweek reached out to Johnson’s office via email for comment.