The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the annual defense bill, allocating nearly $900 billion with substantial funding earmarked for Israel-related initiatives, JNS reported.
The comprehensive legislation, officially named the "Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025," contains several key provisions specifically targeting US-Israel cooperation.
These include $500 million for missile-defense collaboration, $47.5 million for emerging technologies partnership, and $80 million dedicated to anti-tunneling efforts.
A notable provision within the bill prohibits the US Department of Defense from utilizing casualty statistics provided by the Hamas-run Gaza “Ministry of Health”.
"In making assessments of casualties and fatalities during hostilities, the Department of Defense may not cite as authoritative in public communications, fatality figures that are derived by United States-designated terrorist organizations, governmental entities controlled by United States-designated terrorist organizations, or any sources that rely on figures provided by United States-designated terrorist organizations," the legislation says.
The US State Department has classified Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. The Pentagon faced criticism after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin referenced Hamas' statistics during congressional testimony in February, a practice subsequently repeated by other Biden administration officials, including President Joe Biden.
An Associated Press investigation in June revealed discrepancies in Hamas' casualty claims, with the United Nations substantially reducing its estimates of women and children fatalities in May after closer examination of the data.
The bill passed with a vote of 281-140, garnering support from 81 Democrats while 16 Republicans opposed the legislation.
The bill will now move to the Senate for further consideration.