The House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans, approved on Thursday by a vote a draft law with mainly symbolic valuewhich in theory would force Democratic President Joe Biden to end the suspension of delivery of cluster bombs to Israel.

“The Biden administration’s decision to suspend arms deliveries is disastrous and directly contrary to the will of Congress,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said via X.

By approving the draft law “we are sending a clear message of solidarity and support to Israel and we demand the urgent delivery of defensive weapons to our most important ally in the Middle East,” he continued.

Yet, House Speaker Johnson called President Biden’s threat to veto the text “a betrayal of our closest ally in the region,” calling on the head of state and his administration to “stand by Israel.”

The text that was passed has virtually no chance of becoming state law, since even if it were approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate, the president has already made it clear that he will veto it.

The suspension involves the delivery of 2,000-pound (907 kg) and 500-pound (226 kg) cluster bombs, and was decided as Washington tries — in vain, it seems — to pressure Israel not to continue its operations at Rafah and, above all, to do not proceed with a large-scale attack on the city.

Yesterday, however, the Israeli government announced that it would proceed to “intensify” the operations of the armed forces in Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, defying the concerns of foreign capitals who fear for the fate of the hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people who have taken refuge there.

For Republicans, Joe Biden has no right to interfere in how Israel conducts its business. The war has caused a humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian enclave, whose population is threatened by widespread famine. 70% of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced, according to UN estimates.

The Democratic leadership in the House described the initiative as a “political coup” aimed at preventing the president from carrying out his foreign policy.

But the faction of the occupant of the White House did not avoid leaks: 16 Democratic congressmen spoke in favor.

The suspension of aid that the Republicans are protesting concerns only a small part of the military equipment that the US delivers to the Jewish state. After all, earlier this week, the Biden administration notified Congress that it would proceed with the delivery of a package of military hardware worth about a billion dollars — which will include, in particular, shells for tank guns — to Israel’s armed forces.

However, presidential spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre recalled that Washington has expressed its concerns to the Netanyahu government about Rafa “for months.”