DHAKA: The US Congress approved US$225 million in emergency funding for Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense system, sending the measure to president Barack Obama to be signed into law.

The House of Representatives approved the funding by a 395-8 vote late on Friday, several hours after the Senate passed it unanimously, The Straits Times publishes this report on Saturday.

The money would be used to replenish Israel’s arsenal of Iron Dome interceptor missiles, many of which have been used to shoot down short-range rockets fired from Gaza into populated areas of Israel in the current three-week-long conflict.

An earlier version of the funding plan had failed on Thursday when Senate Republicans blocked a broader spending bill that was largely intended to provide money to handle the current immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border.

BDST: 1330 HRS, AUG 02, 2014