Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act”.
Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act
A BILL
To prohibit funds made available for assistance to the Government of Israel to be used to support certain violations of international law, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
In the West Bank, Israeli military law is applied to Palestinians while Israeli civilian law is applied to Israeli settlers, resulting in different legal protections, including for minors.
Each year, Israeli authorities detain and prosecute hundreds of Palestinian minors within a military court system that does not consistently provide timely access to legal counsel, parental presence during interrogation, or other basic due process guarantees as required under international human rights and humanitarian law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Israel ratified in 1991.
Reports by Israeli, Palestinian, and international human rights organizations have documented the use of nighttime arrests, coercive or prolonged interrogations, and prolonged administrative detention of Palestinian minors without charge or trial, practices inconsistent with international standards for the treatment of children in detention.
Israel’s ongoing imposition of a restrictive planning and permitting regime in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem results in the routine demolition or confiscation of Palestinian homes and structures.
These demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem contribute to the displacement of Palestinian families, heighten tensions on the ground, and impede efforts to create conditions conducive to long-term stability and peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
The expansion of Israeli settlements and any steps toward unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank contravene international law.
Israel receives significant United States security assistance, including Foreign Military Financing and funds designated for “offshore procurement”, which constitutes an exception to standard United States arms transfer and assistance practices, under which a portion of United States assistance may be used to procure defense articles produced in Israel.
Congress has an interest in ensuring that all United States-origin defense articles and funds are used in a manner consistent with United States laws, regulations, and policy objectives.
Sec. 3 Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
actions by the Government of Israel in the occupied West Bank, including the detention and prosecution of Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system, the seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians, and further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law and internationally recognized standards of human rights—
are contrary to the values of the American people and the efforts of the United States to support self-determination, human rights, and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis; and
undermine efforts by the United States to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and the Palestinians;
promoting human rights, human dignity, and democratic rights for all Palestinians and Israelis are foreign policy priorities of the United States; and
the United States rejects any undemocratic system or act of aggression in which Israel unilaterally exercises permanent rule over a Palestinian people denied self-determination and human rights.
Sec. 4 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States not to support actions by the Government of Israel involving—
the military detention of Palestinian children in violation of international law;
the seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property or the forcible transfer of civilians in the occupied West Bank in violation of international law; or
further annexation of Palestinian land and property in violation of international law.
Sec. 5 Limitation on assistance
Prohibition— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for assistance to the Government of the State of Israel may be obligated or expended for any of the following:
Supporting the military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law or to support the use against Palestinian children of any of the following practices:
Torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.
Physical violence, including restraint in stress positions.
Hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, or other forms of psychological abuse.
Incommunicado detention or solitary confinement.
Administrative detention, or imprisonment without charge or trial.
Arbitrary detention.
Denial of access to parents or legal counsel during interrogations.
Confessions obtained by force or coercion.
Supporting the seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property or forcible transfer of civilians in the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank in violation of international humanitarian law.
Deploying, or supporting the deployment of, personnel, training, services, lethal materials, equipment, facilities, logistics, transportation, or any other activity to territory in the occupied West Bank to facilitate or support further unilateral annexation by Israel of such territory in violation of international humanitarian law.
Certification— Not later than September 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, with respect to the fiscal year ending on such date—
a certification that none of the funds obligated or expended for assistance to the Government of Israel have been used by such Government to support personnel, training, lethal materials, equipment, facilities, logistics, transportation, or any other activity that supports or is associated with any of the activities described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a); or
a certification that funds obligated or expended have supported or been associated with one or more activities described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), along with a report describing in detail the amount of such funds used by the Government of Israel in violation of such subsection and each activity supported by such funds.
Sec. 6 Oversight and additional reporting
Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Activities by the Government of Israel—The report required under subsection (d) shall include—
“(1) a description of the nature and extent of detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces or police in violation of international humanitarian law;
“(2) a description of the nature and extent of the seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property in the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank by Israeli authorities in violation of international humanitarian law; and
“(3) a description of the nature and extent of Israeli settlement activities, including an assessment of the compliance of the Government of Israel with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016).”
Sec. 7 GAO report on Israel’s expenditures for offshore procurement
Not later than September 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that—
identifies the specific programs and items for which funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated by the United States, including specific branches, units, and contractors of the Armed Forces;
assesses executive branch compliance with legislative requirements governing offshore procurements in Israel;
identifies, in detail, all end-use monitoring the Government of Israel is subject to with respect to United States-origin defense articles; and
analyzes the effects of offshore procurements on Israel’s military budget and domestic economy since 1991, including an assessment of the manner and extent to which funds provided for offshore procurement have directly or indirectly supported illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.