By: Stephen Groves; AP News

The resolution has virtually no chance of becoming law, but allows Sanders to force a vote that will put senators on the record over whether they support Trump’s decision to sell bombs to Israel during the war with Iran.

The independent senator from Vermont has been an ardent critic of Israel’s actions in the region, and said in a statement Thursday, “No more weapons to support an illegal war.”

So far, Democrats have been mostly united in their opposition to U.S. involvement in the war, but the votes on the arms sales may divide the Democratic Caucus. Similar efforts to block arms sales during Israel’s war in Gaza split Democrats, yet also demonstrated the growing resistance among the party to Israel’s military operations.

Secretary-General António Guterres called for “diplomacy to prevail over war” and said fallout from the conflicts in the Middle East has spread globally.

“The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz causes enormous pain in so many peoples around the world that have nothing to do with this conflict,” he said during a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

He called on Israel and the United States to cease their military campaign and for Iran to open the key oil route and halt attacks on neighboring states, which he said “were never parties to the conflict.”

Turkey is trying to understand where the two adversaries stand and is searching for ways to prevent the conflict from “spreading and worsening,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

In a joint news conference with his Qatari counterpart in Doha, Fidan accused Israel of being the “primary instigator” of the war, but stressed that Iran also bears serious responsibility.

“Whatever the justification may be, Iran’s attacks on countries in the region undermine the foundations of regional stability and are unacceptable,” Fidan said.