III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 504 

Requesting information on Israel’s human rights practices pursuant to section 

502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. SANDERS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Requesting information on Israel’s human rights practices 

pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance 

Act of 1961. 

Whereas there have been 5 rounds of fighting between Israel 

and Hamas in the last 15 years; 

Whereas the current round of conflict began on October 7, 

2023, when Hamas, a terrorist organization, unleashed a 

brutal attack against Israel, killing some 1,200 innocent 

men, women, and children, and taking more than 200 

hostages; 

Whereas United States citizens were among those killed and 

abducted by Hamas; 

Whereas the Senate has unanimously reaffirmed Israel’s 

right to defend itself against Hamas terrorism and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Dec 15, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR504.IS SR504
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spond against the perpetrators of the October 7, 2023, 

attack; 

Whereas Israel has conducted retaliatory military operations 

against targets in Gaza since October 7, 2023, relying 

heavily on the use of airstrikes and artillery bombardment; 

Whereas, as of December 14, 2023, nearly 19,000 people 

have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded in the 

Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza since October 7, 2023; 

Whereas 70 percent of those killed in Gaza are reported to 

be women and children; 

Whereas the United Nations, World Health Organization, 

human rights monitors, outside academic studies, the 

Government of Israel, and United States officials find 

these figures to be broadly reliable; 

Whereas the United Nations, United States officials, and outside experts believe the current death toll is likely higher, 

with thousands of bodies trapped beneath the rubble in 

Gaza; 

Whereas 135 United Nations aid workers have been killed in 

Gaza since October 7, 2023; 

Whereas nearly 1,900,000 people, more than 85 percent of 

the population, have been displaced across the Gaza Strip 

since October 7, 2023; 

Whereas, on November 24, 2023, the United Nations reported that ‘‘across the Gaza Strip, over 234,000 housing 

units have been damaged and more than 46,000 homes 

have been completely destroyed, amounting to over 60 

[percent] of the total housing stock’’; 

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Whereas 43 United Nations facilities have sustained direct 

hits, 60 United Nations installations have sustained collateral damage, and 11 bakeries have been destroyed in 

the bombardment; 

Whereas academic analysis of satellite radar data confirms 

the United Nations assessment that some 60 percent of 

the buildings in northern Gaza have been severely damaged and, across the Gaza Strip, ‘‘between 82,600 and 

105,300 buildings have been left in ruins, according to 

the estimate, which counts buildings where at least half 

the structure was damaged’’; 

Whereas Robert Pape, Professor of Political Science at the 

University of Chicago, said that ‘‘over the space of two 

years, between 1943 and 1945, the Allied bombing of 61 

major German cities razed an estimated 50 percent of 

their urban areas,’’ and that the Allied bombing of Dresden severely damaged 56 percent of that city’s non-industrial buildings and half of its homes, a threshold the 

bombing in Gaza has matched in 2 months; 

Whereas the Israeli military has made extensive use of Mark 

84 2,000-pound bombs, Mark 83 1,000-pound bombs, 

Mark 82 500-pound bombs, and 155mm artillery in 

densely populated urban areas with a large civilian presence; 

Whereas these munitions are manufactured in the United 

States and supplied to Israel by the United States; 

Whereas the Washington Post reports that, in the first 6 

weeks after October 7, 2023, the Government of Israel 

dropped more than 22,000 guided and unguided bombs 

on Gaza that were supplied by the United States; 

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•SRES 504 IS 

Whereas CNN reports, based on United States intelligence 

assessments, that 40 to 45 percent of the 29,000 air-toground munitions that Israel has used in Gaza since October 7, 2023, have been unguided ‘‘dumb bombs’’; 

Whereas the Wall Street Journal reports that the United 

States has provided at least 15,000 bombs and 57,000 

155mm artillery shells to Israel since October 7, 2023, 

including more than 5,000 Mark 82 unguided 500-pound 

bombs, more than 5,400 Mark 84 2,000-pound bombs, 

and thousands of smaller munitions and targeting kits; 

Whereas these munitions were delivered with the knowledge 

that they would likely be used in Gaza, a densely populated urban area with a large civilian presence; 

Whereas the entire Gaza Strip is the physical size of Las 

Vegas but has more than 3 times the population, and 

Gaza City is more densely populated than New York 

City; 

Whereas, on December 1, 2023, United States officials told 

the Wall Street Journal that ‘‘Israel used an Americanprovided bomb with a large payload in one of the deadliest strikes of the entire war, an attack that leveled an 

apartment block in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, killing 

more than 100 people’’ in its effort to eliminate a Hamas 

leader, also reported killed in the strike; and 

Whereas Amnesty International has found, based on photographic and satellite evidence, as well as on-the-ground 

investigation and analysis of bomb fragments, that 

United States-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions 

(JDAM) were used in 2 deadly Israeli airstrikes on 

homes in Gaza in which 43 civilians were killed: Now, 

therefore, be it 

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•SRES 504 IS 

1 Resolved, 

2 SECTION 1. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON ISRAEL’S 

3 HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

4 (a) STATEMENT REQUESTED.—The Senate requests 

5 that the Secretary of State, not later than 30 days after 

6 the date of the adoption of this resolution, transmit to the 

7 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

8 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa9 tives, pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assist10 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(c)), a statement re11 garding Israel’s human rights practices that has been pre12 pared in collaboration with the Assistant Secretary of 

13 State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and the 

14 Office of the Legal Adviser. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The statement submitted under 

16 subsection (a) should include— 

17 (1) all available credible information concerning 

18 alleged violations of internationally recognized 

19 human rights by the Government of Israel, includ20 ing— 

21 (A) the denial of the right to life in the 

22 context of the armed conflict in Gaza and the 

23 West Bank caused by indiscriminate or dis24 proportionate operations; and 

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•SRES 504 IS 

1 (B) the denial of the right to life and the 

2 security of the person by the blanket denial of 

3 basic humanitarian needs, including food, 

4 water, medical care, fuel, and shelter; 

5 (2) a description of the steps that the United 

6 States Government has taken to— 

7 (A) promote respect for and observance of 

8 human rights as part of the Government of 

9 Israel’s activities, including in the context of 

10 the armed conflict in Gaza and the West Bank; 

11 (B) limit the risk to civilian life and civil12 ian infrastructure caused by Israeli military ac13 tion in Gaza and the West Bank; 

14 (C) discourage any practices that are inim15 ical to internationally recognized human rights; 

16 and 

17 (D) publicly or privately call attention to, 

18 and disassociate the United States and any se19 curity assistance provided for the Government 

20 of Israel from any practices described in sub21 paragraph (C); 

22 (3) an assessment, notwithstanding any prac23 tices described in paragraph (2)(B), of whether ex24 traordinary circumstances exist that necessitate a 

25 continuation of security assistance for the GovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Dec 15, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR504.IS SR504
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1 ment of Israel, and if so, a description of the cir2 cumstances and the extent to which security assist3 ance should be continued (subject to such conditions 

4 as Congress may impose under section 502B of the 

5 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304)); 

6 (4) a certification that no unit of the Israeli se7 curity forces receiving United States assistance since 

8 January 1, 2018, has— 

9 (A) committed any gross violations of 

10 human rights; or 

11 (B) continued to receive United States as12 sistance in violation of section 620M of the 

13 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

14 2378d) or section 362 of title 10, United States 

15 Code; 

16 (5) a description of the manner and extent to 

17 which the Secretary of State or the Secretary of De18 fense has determined, for purposes of compliance 

19 with the vetting requirements of section 620M of the 

20 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) 

21 and section 362 of title 10, United States Code, that 

22 any information relating to the commission of 

23 human rights violations by units of Israeli security 

24 forces is credible; and 

25 (6) other information, including— 

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1 (A) a summary and list of United States 

2 weapons and munitions provided to Israel since 

3 October 7, 2023; 

4 (B) an assessment from the Secretary of 

5 State of the likelihood that United States secu6 rity assistance (as defined in section 502B(d) of 

7 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

8 2304(d))) will be used in support of Israeli ac9 tivities related to the armed conflict in Gaza 

10 and the West Bank; 

11 (C) a detailed assessment of the compli12 ance of the Government of Israel with inter13 national human rights and humanitarian law 

14 during its operations in Gaza and the West 

15 Bank since October 7, 2023; and 

16 (D) a description and assessment of the 

17 actions that the United States Government is 

18 taking to ensure end use monitoring protocols 

19 for all weapons sold or transferred to the Gov20 ernment of Israel for use in Gaza and the West 

21 Bank. 

22 (c) GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS DE23 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘gross violations of 

24 human rights’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘gross vio25 lations of internationally recognized human rights’’ in secVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Dec 15, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR504.IS SR504
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1 tion 502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

2 (22 U.S.C. 2304). 

Æ