Washington, October 19 (RHC)-- On Capital Hill, Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has blocked legislation that would have effectively barred U.S. humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza. 

On Wednesday, Sanders objected when Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott tried to pass the so-called Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act by unanimous consent.   Sanders said: “Right now there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Gaza who have lost their homes.  They’ve been thrown out of their homes.  They have no food.  They have no water.  They have no fuel.  And I remind my colleagues that half of those people are children.”

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has ordered an additional 2,000 U.S. troops to deploy to the Middle East in support of Israel.  The order builds on a rapid response force of 2,000 U.S. Marines sailing for the eastern Mediterranean, along with two U.S. Navy carrier strike groups.