A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Thursday approved an amendment to the State Department's appropriations bill that prohibits the agency from relying on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Healthy Ministry for casualty figures from Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Joe Wilson, R-S.C., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Carol Miller, R-W.Va. It passed 269-144, with 62 Democrats joining 207 Republicans.
All of the House Democrat leadership opposed the amendment, except for Rep. Ted Lieu of California, vice chair of the Democrat caucus. Only two Republicans opposed the measure: Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Matthew Rosendale of Montana.
The Gaza Healthy Ministry has been the primary source for Palestinian casualties during Israel's military operation, launched after Iranian-backed Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack with the objective to destroy Hamas and rescue Israeli civilians taken hostage during the attack.
The Health Ministry has cited more than 37,000 Palestinian casualties in the war, according to multiple media outlets, and is the only official entity tracking the death toll in Gaza. But it has never distinguished between civilian and military casualties.
An analysis from The Associated Press earlier this month found that the proportion of women and children who died in the conflict has decreased as the war has progressed, from nearly two-thirds in October to about half in April, according to The Hill. The Israeli government has repeatedly criticized the ministry's death toll, claiming the agency is inflating the figure for political reasons.
Moskowitz said on the House floor that although civilian deaths in Gaza were tragic, the State Department should not be using casualty figures provided by a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
"The Gaza Ministry of Health is the Hamas Ministry of Health," Moskowitz said, according to the Jewish News Syndicate. "It is Hamas' goal to sell propaganda to the American people, to sell propaganda to the world. Hamas is not a credible source. Since when is Hamas credible?"
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., the only member of Congress with Palestinian heritage, denounced the amendment from the House floor Wednesday, The Hill reported, calling the move "genocide denial."
Tlaib read the death toll and other information about the conflict into the congressional record, noting that she intended to include a list of the names of those killed in the conflict.
"It is important to note this to everyone here: The list is too long that I can't even submit it because of the text limit," she said. "That's how many have been killed."
The amendment will now be considered by the Senate as part of the larger State Department funding package for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.