US Senate rejects measure to force human rights report on Israel

The US Senate rejected a resolution on Tuesday that would have frozen security aid to Israel unless the State Department produces a report within 30 days examining whether Israel committed human rights violations in its war on Gaza.

Seventy-two senators voted to set the resolution aside, versus 11 who backed it, easily clearing the simple majority needed to kill the resolution in the 100-member chamber.

The vote was forced by Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. While the resolution was handily defeated, it reflected growing concern among some of President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats, especially on the left, over the supply of US weapons to Israel despite the Gaza conflict's steep toll on Palestinian civilians.

"We must ensure that U.S. aid is being used in accordance with human rights and our own laws," Sanders said in a speech urging support, lamenting what he described as the Senate's failure to consider any measure looking at the war's effect on civilians.

The White House had said it opposed the resolution, which could have paved the way toward the imposition of conditions on security assistance to Israel.

Reporting by Reuters