U.S. Senate rejects resolutions to ban arms sales to Israel

The U.S. Senate rejected three resolutions to ban arms sales to Israel totaling more than $20 billion in a vote in the upper chamber. The broadcast was broadcast by the author of the resolutions, independent Senator Bernie Sanders in the social network X (formerly Twitter).

The author of the resolutions cited a violation of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, which states that Washington cannot supply arms to a state that directly or indirectly restricts the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid.

Had the resolutions passed, U.S. arms shipments to Israel from the United States could have stopped. At issue were JDAM ammunition, tank ammunition, fragmentation mortar shells and tactical vehicles.

As a result of the vote, 17 senators out of 100 spoke in favor of the resolutions, while 60 lawmakers rejected them.

Earlier, on November 20, the US used its veto power in the UN Security Council (UNSC) and blocked a new draft Middle East resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. In turn, 14 out of 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the document.

Prior to that, on November 18, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East that the United States and Britain are trying their best to prevent the adoption of a resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. In his opinion, the vote in the Security Council will be "the moment of truth for the Anglo-Saxon tandem".

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected the territory of Israel to massive rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.