BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) – Thousands of U.S. soldiers on the offensive north of Baghdad are facing fierce resistance from hundreds of al Qaeda militants who are ready to fight to the death, an American general said on Friday.

The US House of Representatives approved a foreign aid bill late Thursday with $2.4 billion in military aid to Israel but withholding $200 million in military funds for Egypt until the US Secretary of State certifies that Cairo is working to stop the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.

There have been promising developments in the case against judge Abdel Fatah Murad, who has filed multiple fabricated charges against the Hisham Mubarak Law Center and HRinfo, as well as bloggers and human rights and news websites, report the law center and HRinfo.