US senator expresses support for Israel in meeting with Netanyahu

US Senator John Fetterman expressed support for Israel during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

"We stand with Israel through this. I'm so sorry for what's been done to this nation, but I'm just honored to be here today," Fetterman told Netanyahu

Netanyahu thanked Fetterman for his visit and for his consistent support of Israel.

"We've been through dark times in these months of anguish war. During that time, I can say that Israel has had no better friend than Senator John Fetterman," he said, thanking him for his "courageous statements that show moral clarity and moral courage."

Netanyahu is expected to address a joint session of the US Congress on July 24. Some senators, including Bernie Sanders, already said they won't attend the premier's speech.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 37,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 86,400 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.