🚨 Eleven senators, led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), are invoking a fast-track provision of the Foreign Assistance Act to force the State Department to disclose what it knows about Israeli forces and settlers killing Americans and abusing Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank.
If adopted by the Senate, the Section 502B(c) privileged resolution would require the Trump administration to submit an unclassified report within 30 days. If the administration refused or failed to comply, covered U.S. weapons and other security assistance to Israel under the law would be prohibited. If the report is delivered, Congress could use its findings to pursue further restrictions.
Because the resolution is “privileged,” the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has only 10 days to consider it. If the committee fails to act, its sponsors can bring it directly to the Senate floor for a vote.
🔹 Van Hollen is joined by Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
🔹 The resolution demands:
▪️ Evidence concerning nine Americans killed by Israeli forces or settlers since 2022
▪️ The status of U.S. and Israeli investigations
▪️ The identities of suspected perpetrators and responsible Israeli units
▪️ Whether those units should be barred from receiving U.S. assistance under federal law
▪️ Details of any action Washington has taken to secure accountability
▪️ Information on Palestinian children in Israeli military detention, including their numbers, charges, access to lawyers, reported torture and mistreatment, and the facilities and units implicated in abuse
In just over 4 years, 9 Americans have been killed in the West Bank with 0 accountability. It’s past time we get answers about their deaths & the constant injustices Palestinians face from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
I'm introducing a resolution requiring the State Dept to begin to answer these questions & I'll be bringing it to a vote when Congress returns.