Republicans are pushing to include border funding in the aid package for Israel and Ukraine

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate leaders on Tuesday called for a bipartisan aid package for Israel’s counteroffensive against Hamas that also includes aid to Ukraine and Taiwan, with possible border funding sought by Republicans as President Joe Biden prepared to to set off on a trip to Israel on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, an explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as Baptist Hospital, in Gaza City on Tuesday left hundreds dead, according to Palestinian officials, who blamed Israeli forces for the explosion.

Israel denied responsibility and said enemy missiles “were flying through the area around the hospital when it was hit,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted on X.

In Washington, the Biden administration is preparing a supplemental budget request that senators are expected to receive by the end of the week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday.

The package will include funding for Israel to address military, intelligence and humanitarian needs as the U.S. ally retaliates against Hamas over the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack, said Schumer, a New York Democrat.

The package will also include aid for Ukraine and Taiwan, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

However, the Kentucky Republican added that Republicans would also seek to enhance funding for security measures at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We want to get the additional package underway as quickly as possible because the need is great in both Israel and Ukraine,” Schumer said.

Schumer, who led a bipartisan delegation of senators to Israel over the weekend, said the package would include “the military assistance Israel needs, the diplomatic and intelligence assistance Israel needs, and humanitarian assistance to address the loss of innocent Palestinian lives.” “to minimize.” and the Israelis.”

Republican Senate Rep. John Thune of South Dakota said at a news conference Tuesday that the caucus was “heartbroken and disgusted” by Hamas’ surprise attack that killed more than 1,300 Israelis, most of them civilians. Senate Republicans stand “in solidarity with Israel” and support the country’s right to exist and the “defense” against the Hamas attack, he said.

But Republicans also called for additional funding for border security and criticized Biden for not making the issue a priority.

“The administration will send out a supplement that addresses Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan,” McConnell said. “And Republicans are going to want something serious at the border. So we take a look at the package when they send it out and make suggestions for improvements if necessary, but obviously the world has changed dramatically in the last ten days.”

Biden is traveling to the region

Biden was scheduled to leave for Israel on Tuesday evening.

Biden will “talk about how important it is for the United States and other partners to stand up for Israel and allow them to continue to defend themselves against Hamas terrorists,” White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a video on X

“The support of the United States will remain strong and steady,” he said.

The president will warn others in the region who might try to expand or exacerbate the conflict to stay away, Kirby said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave 2,000 Defense Department employees the “order to prepare for deployment” on Monday, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a press conference.

“This policy increases the Defense Department’s ability to respond quickly to the evolving security environment in the Middle East,” Singh said.

Biden will also work with Israel to secure hostages held by Hamas, including U.S. citizens, and discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Kirby said. The government wants food, water and medicine to flow into Gaza and for civilians to have a safe and sound means of escape, he said.

Biden was previously scheduled to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman after leaving Israel. But the White House announced delayed Tuesday that the president would postpone the visit after Abbas announced days of mourning.

“The President expressed his deepest condolences to the innocent people who lost their lives in the hospital explosion in Gaza and wished a speedy recovery to those injured,” the White House said in a statement. “He looks forward to consulting personally with these executives soon and agreed to remain in regular and direct contact with each of them in the coming days.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the region this week to negotiate safe and sound passage for evacuees from Gaza to Egypt via Rafah and to allow humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza through the same border crossing.

Former Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, will not attend a classified briefing on the war between Israel and Hamas, Schumer said.

Menendez resigned from his role on the committee after he was accused in a federal criminal lawsuit of being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government and of bribery.

Egypt is the only country other than Israel that shares a border with Gaza.

Explosion in the hospital

The Pentagon could not confirm who caused the explosion at al-Ahli Arab Hospital or how many casualties there were, Singh told reporters.

“I have seen the reports, I cannot provide any further details at this stage,” Singh said during a televised press conference. “I don’t know who is responsible for this. We don’t have all the facts. And I’m sure that as we learn more there will be discussions, but for now I’m not going to get into a hypothetical question about who’s responsible for something.”

“What I can tell you again is what the secretary did [Austin] “We have made it very clear that we expect Israel to abide by the laws of war,” Singh said.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called the shelling a “massacre” and a “terrible crime.”

Netanyahu’s office posted on

The World Health Organization immediately condemned the “apparent attack” on the operational hospital, one of many under an Israeli military evacuation order.

“We demand the immediate protection of civilians and health care and the lifting of the evacuation orders,” wrote WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X.

The United Nations has expressed concern about Israel’s cuts in supplies to the Gaza Strip.

“Important life-saving supplies – including fuel, food and water – must be allowed into the Gaza Strip. “We need rapid and unhindered humanitarian access now,” UN chief António Guterres said in a statement.

Israel has reopened access to water in the southern Gaza Strip, Singh said on Tuesday. Israel ordered an evacuation from the northern part of the territory last week, affecting more than a million civilians.

The government will continue to remind Israel not to attack civilians and abide by other international laws of war, but will not place conditions on U.S. aid, Singh said.

“We need a confirmed ambassador”

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew as U.S. ambassador to Israel on Wednesday.

Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, chairman of that committee, said Tuesday that the Senate should confirm Lew immediately.

“We need a confirmed ambassador to Israel as soon as possible,” he said. “We will work to ensure this becomes a reality as quickly as possible.”

Asked whether Republicans would support Lew, a former Treasury secretary under Democratic President Barack Obama, McConnell was noncommittal.

“We’ll look at it,” McConnell said of Lew’s nomination.