More US senators decided to sign an amendment that could impose conditions on military aid to Israel, amid growing demands for a ceasefire in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu categorically rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to what the British website Middle East Eye reported on Monday January 22, 2024.

Five Democratic members of the US Senate, Tina Smith, Raphael Warnock, Lavonza Butler, Tammy Baldwin, and Jon Ossoff, announced on Friday, January 19, that they would support an amendment presented by Senator Chris Van Hollen, requiring countries that receive US weapons to use them in a manner that... Complies with humanitarian law and US law.

With these five members, total support for the Van Hollen Amendment reaches 18 members, more than a third of the Democratic Caucus in the US Senate.

Van Hollen said, in an interview on Sunday, January 21: “Here is Prime Minister Netanyahu once again directly and publicly repelling the President of the United States.” He added: "It is time for a ceasefire. Biden must take a big and bold step. He must present the vision of a two-state solution."

A dispute has arisen between the Biden administration and Israel over the post-war plan in Gaza since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip, after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. These differences worsened after Netanyahu publicly opposed the Biden administration's call to take steps to create a Palestinian state.

But growing support for Van Hollen's bill shows how opposition to Netanyahu is causing Israel to lose allies within the Democratic Party.

The Van Hollen Amendment also requires the administration to report within 30 days if recipients of US weapons are using them in compliance with US terms of use, as well as US and international law.

Van Hollen also directed sharp criticism at Israel, due to what he says is its lack of cooperation with the administration to provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza and reduce civilian casualties.

But the amendment allows the president to issue a waiver not to pressure recipients of US weapons to cooperate in humanitarian aid if doing so is in the interest of US national security.

While the Middle East Eye website indicated that this amendment will also not apply to air defense systems, or “other systems that the President determines will be used for purely defensive purposes.”