Republican lawmakers push for spending Gaza aid on Israel's Iron Dome instead

A group of Republican lawmakers is pushing a proposal to reallocate funding available for Gaza assistance to instead be spent aiding Israel with its Iron Dome air defense system that intercepts scads of rockets fired at the Jewish state.

The measure calls for the president to "transfer all unexpended balances of appropriations made available for assistance to Gaza" over to the Defense Department or Foreign Military Financing Program "to be available for grants to Israel for the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system."

The measure has been put forward in the past as well.

"In the wake of Iran-backed Hamas’s savage attack on Israel ... and as Iran-backed Hamas terrorists continue to launch missiles and rockets into Israel, the American people have seen the images of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense systems repeatedly intercepting rockets and saving the lives of countless civilians," Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) said according to a press release.

"The Biden Administration insists on sending foreign assistance to Gaza, while Hamas steals it to fund weapons to kill Israelis and Americans," GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said, according to the press release. "Congress must act to redirect these funds to Israel to help restock their critical missile defense systems."

The Senate on Thursday voted 97-0 in favor of approving a resolution, which, in part, expressed the chamber's support for the Jewish state's right to self-defense.

"We declared in one voice that Israel is our friend, Hamas’s attack is reprehensible, and we will stand with our friends as they defend themselves," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a post on X.

During a trip to Israel this week, President Joe Biden announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and the West Bank, a move that has been decried by critics who contend that the aid will end up in the hands of terrorists.

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