We're going to hear perspectives now on all of this from two members of Congress.

First, Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland.

He's a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and I spoke with him earlier today.

Senator Van Hollen, welcome to the news hour.

It's good to be with you.

Thank you for having me.

You have for months been urging President Biden to do more

to use the administration's leverage to pressure Israel to change the way it's prosecuting

the war in Gaza to limit civilian suffering.

What then do you make of this move now to pause a shipment of some 3,500 bombs to Israel over concerns

that those weapons might be used in Raffa? I think this is exactly the right kind of

move. We've had months of a pattern where President

Biden asks Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet certain American concerns only to be mostly ignored.

And so it's very important the President of the United States now make clear that our support is not a blank check.

It's not anything goes and the president

established a red line. He said he did not want to see an invasion of

Rafa. By all accounts, the NAN Yu government is proceeding, so this is exactly the right step for President Biden to take.

There is this concern, though, that pausing the shipment or even conditioning future aid only emboldens Iran and Iran-backed group.

The Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said this move, in his words, creates daylight

between America and a close ally.

What about that?

Are you concerned about the message

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