US Senate blocks measure demanding report on rights violations in West Bank

The vote was largely along party lines, with every Republican voting no except for Rand Paul of Kentucky and every Democrat except John Fetterman of Pennsylvania in favour.

The resolution would have required the State Department to report to Congress on thekilling of US citizensby Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in the West Bank and to assess thehuman rights situation. Violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the territory has risen sharply this ⁠year.

Read:Israeli settlers attack West Bank village, blocking family's return home. While the resolution would not have cut aid to Israel, the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since World War Two, a failure by the administration to deliver the report could have triggered restrictions on aid.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the measure's lead sponsor, had argued that it was "long past time" to examine human rights in the West Bank, including the deaths of nine Americans since 2022.

"It is our responsibility to ensure recipients of US taxpayer dollars act in line with our laws and our values," he said in a statement, referring to Israel. Republicans accused Democrats of seeking to score political points as Israel is under threat, seven months after US and Israeli forces launched airstrikes that began an ongoingconflict with Iran.

"I urge my colleagues to vote no on this resolution so we can stand with our ally Israel as they beat back the scourge of Iranian-backed terrorism," Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines said in a speech. Elections loom.

The vote took place weeks beforeUS midterm electionson November 3, in which polls show Trump's Republicans could lose their congressional majorities, signaling a potential shift in Israel policy in the new Congress. Polls show the war with Iran isnot popular with Americans, who are frustrated withhigher energy pricesresulting from the conflict.

Netanyahu, who has long aligned himself with US Republicans, faces an election in Israelon October 27, which public opinion polls show his right-wing coalition could lose. Read More:2 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike, gunfire in Gaza despite ceasefire.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. The United Nations and most countries consider settlements thereillegal under international lawgoverning military occupation. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.

Some Democrats — and a few ​Republicans — also have called forcurbs on military aidto Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza, with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and much of the enclave in ruins.