Capitol building
Capitol buildingiStock

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a resolution expressing support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

The resolution, titled “Standing with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists”, passed by a majority of 412 to 10.

Nine of the ten “no” votes were by Democrats: Reps. Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Andre Carson, Al Green, Summer Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Delia Ramirez and Rashida Tlaib.

The lone Republican no vote was from Rep. Thomas Massie.

The resolution states that the House of Representatives “stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists, reaffirms Israel’s right to self-defense and condemns Hamas’ brutal war against Israel.”

The resolution also calls on all countries to unequivocally condemn Hamas’ brutal war against Israel, and “calls on Hamas to immediately cease these violent attacks and safely release all living hostages and return the bodies of deceased hostages.”

It further “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to Israel’s security, including through security assistance in accordance with the 2016 US-Israel Memorandum of Understanding” and urges full enforcement of the “Taylor Force Act”, which cuts United States funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it continues to pay terrorists and their families.

The resolution also condemns Iran’s support for terrorist groups and proxies, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, urges full enforcement of United States sanctions against Iran to prevent Iran’s funding of terrorist groups, and “stands ready to assist Israel with emergency resupply and other security, diplomatic, and intelligence support.”

The resolution was the first one passed by the House after the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as its next Speaker.

Johnson had said that his first act as Speaker would be to pass a resolution affirming Israel's right to self-defense.

The House had been without a Speaker for three weeks following the ouster of former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy.