Hamas Human Shields Prevention Act

Summary: Hamas Human Shields Prevention Act  (Sec. 3) This bill states that it is U.S. policy to condemn Hamas's use of human shields and act against those engaging in or supporting the use of human shields.   (Sec. 4) The President is urged to direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (U.N.) to use U.S. influence at the Security Council to secure support for a resolution: (1) imposing multilateral sanctions against Hamas's use of human shields; and (2) specifying steps to prevent, and consequences for, the use of U.N. employees as human shields or facilities that enable that use.  (Sec. 5) The President shall prohibit property transactions and U.S. entry (and revoke current visas) with respect to: (1) each foreign person or entity that is a member of or acting on behalf of Hamas and that is responsible for or complicit in Hamas's unlawful attempt to use civilians, civilian property, or other protected persons to shield military objectives from lawful attack; and (2) each foreign person or entity and each agency or instrumentality of a foreign state that has significantly facilitated or attempted to facilitate such an act.  The President may waive a sanction for 180 days with prior congressional certification that such waiver is in U.S. national security interests.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hamas Human Shields Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The international law of armed conflict prohibits, 
        during any armed conflict, the exploitation of the presence of 
        civilians, or movement of civilians, in an effort to impede 
        attack on or otherwise shield lawful targets from attack.
            (2) Violation of this obligation is commonly referred to as 
        using persons as ``human shields'', the unlawful exploitation 
        of civilian persons or property in an attempt to impede attack 
        on or otherwise shield lawful targets from attack.
            (3) The international law of armed conflict also prohibits 
        exposing prisoners of war, other detainees, or the wounded and 
        sick to unnecessary risks resulting from the conduct of 
        hostilities, which clearly includes a prohibition against using 
        such personnel in an effort to impede attack on or otherwise 
        shield lawful targets from attack.
            (4) Under the international law of armed conflict, the use 
        of human shields is a critical consideration when assessing 
        whether infliction of civilian harm by a party to the conflict 
        was in fact unreasonable under the circumstances.
            (5) Throughout the violent takeover of Gaza by Hamas in 
        2007, the organization engaged in summary executions and 
        torture, and put the lives of civilians at constant risk.
            (6) Since that 2007 takeover of Gaza, Hamas forces have 
        repeatedly fired rockets into Israel in an indiscriminate 
        manner, routinely striking civilian population areas that 
        cannot plausibly be considered lawful military targets.
            (7) Hamas attacks are routinely launched from firing 
        positions in areas of dense civilian population, often in or 
        near schools, mosques, or hospitals, with no plausible 
        justification based on military necessity.
            (8) Unlawful Hamas tactics also include routinely forcing 
        Palestinian civilians to gather on the roofs of their homes to 
        act as human shields.
            (9) Because these Hamas tactics cannot be justified by 
        military necessity, they indicate an effort to endanger both 
        Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
            (10) The Israel Defense Force, in response to such serious 
        violations by Hamas, has vigorously taken all feasible 
        precautions to minimize civilian casualties and protect 
        civilian objects, in accordance with the international laws of 
        armed conflict. Such tactics have included providing warnings 
        to civilians when feasible.
            (11) Since 2010, Hamas has enlisted children to work as 
        laborers in the tunnel networks between Gaza and Egypt.
            (12) On June 9, 2017, the United Nations Relief and Works 
        Agency announced it had discovered Hamas tunnels under two of 
        its schools in the Gaza Strip, adding it was ``unacceptable 
        that students and staff are placed at risk in such a way''.
            (13) Hamas was designated as a foreign terrorist 
        organization by the Secretary of State on October 8, 1997.
            (14) In addition to Hamas, other armed groups, such as 
        Hezbollah, the Islamic State, al-Qa'ida, and al-Shabaab, 
        typically use civilians as human shields.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States to--
            (1) officially and publicly condemn Hamas for violating the 
        international law of armed conflict by exploiting civilians, 
        civilian property, and other specially protected personnel and 
        facilities, in an effort to shield military targets from lawful 
        attack; and
            (2) take effective action against those knowingly engaging 
        in, supporting, facilitating, or enabling such undisputed 
        violations of international law through the use of human 
        shields.

SEC. 4. UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL.

    The President should direct the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and 
influence of the United States at the United Nations Security Council 
to secure support for a resolution that would--
            (1) impose multilateral sanctions against Hamas for the use 
        of human shields;
            (2) require member nations to take specific steps to 
        prevent the use of human shields and impose consequences on 
        those who use human shields;
            (3) require the United Nations to track and report the use 
        of human shields in any conflict monitored by an organization 
        or agency of the United Nations; and
            (4) specify steps to prevent, and consequences for, the use 
        of United Nations employees as human shields or the use of 
        United Nations facilities or infrastructure to enable the use 
        of civilians as human shields.

SEC. 5. SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR GROSS VIOLATIONS 
              OF INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose sanctions described in 
subsection (c) with respect to each person on the list required under 
subsection (b).
    (b) List.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a list of the following:
                    (A) Each foreign person that the President 
                determines--
                            (i) is a member of Hamas or is acting on 
                        behalf of Hamas; and
                            (ii) on or after the date of the enactment 
                        of this Act, knowingly orders, controls, or 
                        otherwise directs or is complicit in, any 
                        unlawful attempt to use civilians, civilian 
                        property, or other protected persons to shields 
                        military objectives from lawful attack.
                    (B) Each foreign person, or each agency or 
                instrumentality of a foreign state, that the President 
                determines has knowingly, on or after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act--
                            (i) significantly facilitated, directly or 
                        indirectly, any act described in subparagraph 
                        (A)(ii) by a person described in subparagraph 
                        (A)(ii); or
                            (ii) attempted to facilitate or support any 
                        such person.
            (2) Updates.--The President shall transmit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees an update of the list 
        required under paragraph (1)--
                    (A) not later than 1 year after the date of 
                transmission of such list, and annually thereafter for 
                3 years; and
                    (B) as new information becomes available.
    (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions to be imposed on a foreign 
person or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state on the list 
required under subsection (b) are the following:
            (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
        of the powers granted to the President under the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the 
        extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in 
        property and interests in property of the foreign person or of 
        such agency or instrumentality of a foreign state if such 
        property or interests in property are in the United States, 
        come within the United States, or are or come within the 
        possession or control of a United States person.
            (2) Aliens ineligible for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien who the 
                Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland 
                Security (or a designee of either such Secretary) 
                determines is a foreign person on the list required 
                under subsection (b) is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 
                        documentation to enter the United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) In general.--Any visa or other 
                        documentation issued to an alien who is a 
                        foreign person on the list required under 
                        subsection (b), regardless of when such visa or 
                        other documentation was issued, shall be 
                        revoked and such alien shall be denied 
                        admission to the United States.
                            (ii) Effect of revocation.--A revocation 
                        under clause (i)--
                                    (I) shall take effect immediately; 
                                and
                                    (II) shall automatically cancel any 
                                other valid visa or documentation that 
                                is in the possession of the alien who 
                                is the subject of such revocation.
                    (C) Exception to comply with united nations 
                headquarters agreement.--The sanctions under this 
                paragraph shall not be imposed on an individual if 
                admitting such individual to the United States is 
                necessary to permit the United States to comply with 
                the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United 
                Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and 
                entered into force November 21, 1947, between the 
                United Nations and the United States, or with other 
                applicable international agreements.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis, waive the 
application of a sanction under this section with respect to a person 
or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state for periods not 
longer than 180 days if the President certifies to the appropriate 
congressional committees that such waiver is in the national security 
interest of the United States.
    (e) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections (b) and 
(c) of section 206 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to any person that violates, attempts to 
violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any regulation 
promulgated to carry out this section to the same extent that such 
penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act described in 
section 206(a) of such Act.
    (f) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The President may exercise all authorities 
        provided to the President under sections 203 and 205 of the 
        International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 
        1704) for purposes of carrying out this section.
            (2) Issuance of regulations.--Not later than 180 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
        prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to implement 
        this section.
    (g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            (1) to limit the authorities of the President pursuant to 
        the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
        et seq.) or any other relevant provision of law; or
            (2) to apply with respect to any activity subject to the 
        reporting requirements under title V of the National Security 
        Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.), or to any authorized 
        intelligence activities of the United States.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Admitted; alien.--The terms ``admitted'' and ``alien'' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 101 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Agency or instrumentality of a foreign state.--The term 
        ``agency or instrumentality of a foreign state'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 1603(b) of title 28, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Financial Services, the 
                Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on the 
                Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
                House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, and the 
                Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (4) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 594.304 of title 31, Code of 
        Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of the enactment 
        of this Act.
            (5) Hamas.--The term ``Hamas'' means--
                    (A) the entity known as Hamas and designated by the 
                Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization 
                pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or
                    (B) any person identified as an agent, 
                instrumentality, or affiliate of Hamas on the list of 
                specially designated nationals and blocked persons 
                maintained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of 
                the Department of Treasury, the property or interests 
                in property of which are blocked pursuant to the 
                International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 
                1701 et seq.).
            (6) United states person.--The term ``United States 
        person'' has the meaning given such term in section 594.315 of 
        title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 14, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.