The United States (US) House of Representatives has passed a $95bn legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The long-awaited bill, which passed on Saturday, saw broad bipartisan support and could be signed into law as early as next week after it passes through the Senate and lands on President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.
The foreign aid package allocates some $26.38bn for Israel, including $9.1bn for humanitarian needs.
Specifically, the allocation will see:
- $5.2bn go to replenishing and expanding Israel’s missile and rocket defence system;
- $3.5bn for buying advanced weapons systems and $1bn to enhance weapons production;
- $4.4bn for other supplies and services to Israel; and
- $9.2bn for humanitarian purposes, including in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
However, despite allocating funds for humanitarian assistance, the bill stipulates that funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is prohibited. This follows Israeli unsubstantiated accusations that the agency’s staff were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
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Several Western donors have since resumed funding to UNRWA, which is a lifeline for nearly two million people in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the billions of dollars in US assistance, writing on X that it “demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization”.
But the Palestinian presidency condemned the bill as “an aggression against the Palestinian people” and a “dangerous escalation”.
The money would “translate into thousands of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip” and the occupied West Bank, said Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The bill provides $60.84bn to address the conflict in Ukraine, specifically:
- $23bn to replenish US weapons, stocks, and facilities;
- $14bn for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a US Department of State-led funding programme that helps train Ukraine’s military and provides equipment and advisory initiatives;
- More than $11bn will fund current US military operations in the region, enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian military, and boost intelligence collaboration between Kyiv and Washington; and
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- $8bn in non-military assistance, including helping Ukraine’s government pay salaries.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude on Saturday, saying US lawmakers moved to keep “history on the right track”.“The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Zelenskyy said on X.However, reacting after the House approval, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the new US aid package would “deepen the crisis throughout the world”.
“Military assistance to the [Ukrainian] regime is a direct sponsorship of terrorist activities,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
The bill will see $8.12bn go to the Asia Pacific, including Taiwan.
Taiwanese authorities have previously highlighted delays in US weapon deliveries, such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense thanked the US House for its “rock solid” support for Taiwan after the bill passed.
The ministry also said it “will coordinate the relevant budget uses with the United States through existing exchange mechanisms, and work hard to strengthen combat readiness capabilities to ensure national security and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
Separately, the package includes proposals that allow the US to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to rebuild Ukraine and impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, and China, as well as provisions that the China-based owner of the popular video app TikTok sell its stake within a year or face a US ban.
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