Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act
Bill: H.R.2590 | Sponsor: Rep. McCollum, Betty (D-MN)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act
This bill limits U.S. assistance to Israel and establishes reporting requirements related to Israel's activities in the West Bank and its expenditures for offshore procurement.
Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of any funds that are made available for assistance to Israel in support of (1) military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children; (2) seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank; or (3) unilateral annexation by Israel of West Bank territory. The Department of State must report on the nature and extent of such activities carried out by Israel.
Further, the Government Accountability Office must submit a report identifying and analyzing Israel's expenditures for offshore procurement, including (1) specific programs and items to which funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated, and (2) identifying all end-use monitoring to which Israel is subject with respect to U.S.-origin defense articles.

To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under 
 Israeli military occupation and to ensure that United States taxpayer 
funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military 
detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, 
   and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of 
 civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land 
                   in violation of international law.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Approximately 3,000,000 Palestinians live in the West 
        Bank, of which around 45 percent are children under the age of 
        18 who have lived their entire lives under Israeli military 
        control.
            (2) In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, there are two 
        separate and unequal legal systems, with Israeli military law 
        imposed on Palestinians and Israeli civilian law applied to 
        Israeli settlers.
            (3) Children are entitled to special protections and due 
        process rights under international human rights law and 
        international humanitarian law.
            (4) Israel has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the 
        Child, which states--
                    (A) in article 37(a), that ``no child shall be 
                subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading 
                treatment or punishment'';
                    (B) in article 37(b), that the arrest, detention or 
                imprisonment of a child ``shall be used only as a 
                measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate 
                period of time'';
                    (C) in article 37(c), that ``every child deprived 
                of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect 
                for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a 
                manner which takes into account the needs of persons of 
                his or her age''; and
                    (D) in article 37(d), that ``[e]very child deprived 
                of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt 
                access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as 
                well as the right to challenge the legality of the 
                deprivation of his or her liberty before a court or 
                other competent, independent and impartial authority, 
                and to a prompt decision on any such action''.
            (5) The Government of Israel and its military detains 
        around 500 to 700 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 
        and 17 each year and prosecutes them before a military court 
        system that lacks basic and fundamental guarantees of due 
        process in violation of international standards.
            (6) Israeli security forces detain children under the age 
        of 12 for interrogation for extended periods of time even 
        though the prosecution of children under 12 is prohibited by 
        Israeli military law.
            (7) Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2020, reported 
        that ``Israel denied Palestinian children arrested and detained 
        in the West Bank legal protections granted to Israeli children, 
        including settlers, such as protections against nighttime 
        arrests and interrogations without a guardian present. Israeli 
        forces frequently used unnecessary force against children 
        during arrest and physically abused them in custody.''.
            (8) The Israeli human rights organization HaMoked: Center 
        for the Defence of the Individual issued a report in October 
        2020 examining night arrests of Palestinian children by Israeli 
        forces in the West Bank finding that Israeli authorities 
        continue ``to send soldiers to arrest Palestinian teenage boys 
        at night as a measure of first resort for bringing them in for 
        interrogation. This injurious, traumatic practice leaves the 
        teenagers broken in body and soul, while thwarting the 
        possibility of a fair interrogation and almost guaranteeing a 
        conviction.''.
            (9) The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem issued a 
        report in 2018 describing the treatment of Palestinian children 
        under Israeli military occupation: ``Every year, hundreds of 
        Palestinian minors undergo the same scenario. Israeli security 
        forces pick them up on the street or at home in the middle of 
        the night, then handcuff and blindfold them and transport them 
        to interrogation, often subjecting them to violence en route. 
        Exhausted and scared--some having spent a long time in transit, 
        some having been roused from sleep, some having had nothing to 
        eat or drink for hours--the minors are then interrogated. They 
        are completely alone in there, cut off from the world, without 
        any adult they know and trust by their side, and without having 
        been given a chance to consult with a lawyer before the 
        interrogation. The interrogation itself often involves threats, 
        yelling, verbal abuse and sometimes physical violence. Its sole 
        purpose is to get the minors to confess or provide information 
        about others.''.
            (10) The State Department's 2016 Annual Report on Human 
        Rights Practices noted the renewed use of ``administrative 
        detention'' against Palestinians, including children, a 
        practice in which a detainee may be imprisoned indefinitely, 
        without charge or trial, by the order of a military commander 
        or other government official.
            (11) The nongovernmental organization Defense for Children 
        International-Palestine (DCIP) documented 36 Palestinian 
        children detained and placed in administrative detention, or 
        detention without charge or trial, since Israel renewed the 
        practice against minors in October 2015.
            (12) DCIP collected affidavits from 610 West Bank children 
        who were detained by Israeli forces from the West Bank between 
        2016 and 2020, and concluded that--
                    (A) 73 percent of the children endured physical 
                violence following arrest;
                    (B) under Israeli military law, children do not 
                have the right to a lawyer during interrogation;
                    (C) 97 percent of the children did not have a 
                parent present during their interrogation;
                    (D) 67 percent of the children were not properly 
                informed of their rights by Israeli police;
                    (E) interrogators used stress positions, threats of 
                violence, and isolation to coerce confessions from 
                detained children; and
                    (F) 135 children were held in pre-trial, pre-charge 
                isolation for interrogation purposes for an average 
                period of 15 days.
            (13) Amendments to Israeli military law concerning the 
        detention of Palestinian children have had little or no impact 
        on the treatment of children during the first 24 to 48 hours 
        after an arrest, when the majority of their ill treatment 
        occurs.
            (14) Israel's drive to perpetuate its control over the 
        occupied West Bank results in other serious violations of 
        international law, including the unlawful demolition of 
        Palestinian homes and the forcible transfer of Palestinian 
        civilians.
            (15) The destruction of property in an occupied territory 
        is prohibited under international humanitarian law, unless 
        absolutely necessary for military operations.
            (16) The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions reports 
        that Israel has demolished more than 48,000 Palestinian 
        structures since 1967, of which 24,000 are estimated to be 
        homes.
            (17) Palestinian properties are subject to demolition or 
        confiscation as part of Israeli-imposed planning and zoning 
        regimes in Area C and East Jerusalem and other parts of the 
        West Bank, and subject to punitive demolition following an 
        incident of violence against Israeli military and police 
        forces, settlers, or other civilians.
            (18) Palestinians are required to obtain Israeli-issued 
        building permits and the lack of permits is typically cited as 
        the reason for demolitions or confiscations, even though, due 
        to the restrictive and discriminatory Israeli planning regime, 
        Palestinians are overwhelmingly denied permits and therefore 
        forced to build without the necessary permits.
            (19) From 2016 to 2018, 98.6 percent of the 1,485 building 
        permit applications that were submitted by Palestinians in Area 
        C were rejected, with only 21 applications approved.
            (20) Palestinians are allowed to build in less than one 
        percent of Area C and in only about 15 percent of East 
        Jerusalem.
            (21) Palestinian homes and structures located in Area C and 
        East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank are under 
        constant threat of demolition from the moment construction 
        begins and are often demolished with little notice.
            (22) The United Nations Office for the Coordination for 
        Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in January 2021 that 
        during 2020, Israeli authorities demolished or seized 851 
        structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, 
        displacing 1001 Palestinians as a result, including over 524 
        children. This is the highest number of home demolitions since 
        2016.
            (23) OCHA noted that one of the major trends observed in 
        2020 was the increased use of military orders and other 
        legislation, preventing or limiting the ability of Palestinians 
        to legally challenge the targeting of their homes and sources 
        of livelihood in Israeli courts.
            (24) OCHA reported in February 2021 that 53 schools in the 
        West Bank, which are attended by 5,200 children, are subject to 
        demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities.
            (25) Demolitions clearly and deliberately undermine the 
        prospects for a just and lasting peace between Israel and the 
        Palestinians and create oppressive conditions that leave 
        Palestinians with no other choice than to leave their homes and 
        lands.
            (26) Punitive demolitions function as an act of collective 
        punishment against the families of suspects or perpetrators and 
        create insecurity in the surrounding communities. Though 
        Israeli authorities maintain that punitive demolitions are a 
        means of achieving security, Israel does not demolish the homes 
        of Israelis who have committed crimes against Palestinians as 
        part of its policy.
            (27) The restrictive and discriminatory Israeli planning 
        regime undermines rights and guarantees in international human 
        rights law and international humanitarian law and facilitates 
        unlawful acts and policies, including destruction of property 
        and forcible transfer of civilians, expropriation of land and 
        natural resources, illegal settlement expansion, and further 
        annexation of Palestinian land.
            (28) Jewish-only settlements established by the Government 
        of Israel in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, 
        have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation 
        under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement 
        of a just and lasting peace between Israel and the 
        Palestinians.
            (29) Unilateral annexation of any part of the occupied West 
        Bank by the Government of Israel is a flagrant violation of 
        international law and a prohibited act of aggression under 
        Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.
            (30) Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of United 
        States foreign assistance since World War II, receiving from 
        the United States $146,000,000,000 (current, or noninflation-
        adjusted, dollars) in bilateral assistance and military 
        funding.
            (31) In 2016, the United States and Israeli governments 
        signed a new 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 
        military assistance, covering fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 
        2028.
            (32) Under the terms of the MOU, the United States pledges 
        to provide $38,000,000,000 in military assistance 
        ($33,000,000,000 in Foreign Military Financing grants plus 
        $5,000,000,000 in missile defense appropriations) to Israel, 
        replacing a previous $30,000,000,000, 10-year agreement that 
        ran through fiscal year 2018.
            (33) The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 
        116-260), provides the following for Israel:
                    (A) $3,300,000,000 in Foreign Military Financing 
                (FMF), including $795,300,000 million designated 
                specifically for procurements in Israel, commonly 
                referred to as ``offshore procurements''.
                    (B) $5,000,000 in Migration and Refugee Assistance 
                (MRA) for refugee resettlement.
                    (C) Reauthorization of War Reserve Stock Allies-
                Israel (WRSA-I) through 2023.
                    (D) $500,000,000 in missile defense, of which 
                $73,000,000 is for Iron Dome, $177,000,000 for David's 
                Sling, $77,000,000 for Arrow 3, and $173,000,000 for 
                Arrow 2.
            (34) The sale and export of United States-origin defense 
        articles and defense services to foreign countries are governed 
        by an extensive set of laws, regulations, policies, and 
        procedures, including authorizations and reporting requirements 
        in both the National Defense Authorization Acts and in the 
        State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 
        Appropriations Acts.
            (35) Congress has authorized sales to the Government of 
        Israel under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
        2151, et seq.) and the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (22 
        U.S.C. 2751, et seq.).
            (36) The Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (22 U.S.C. 271, et 
        seq.) generally prohibits foreign countries from using funds 
        made available under the Act for procurement outside the United 
        States. However, each year since 1991, varying amounts of FMF 
        grants have been designated for offshore procurements in 
        Israel.
            (37) In 1991, the Government Accountability Office, 
        formerly the General Accounting Office, issued a report to the 
        Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate examining United 
        States military funding to Israel, which specifically audited 
        Israel's expenditures for offshore procurements and assessed 
        whether the executive branch had complied with legislative 
        requirements.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) 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--
                    (A) 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
                    (B) undermine efforts by the United States to 
                achieve a just and lasting peace between Israel and the 
                Palestinians;
            (2) promoting human rights, human dignity, and democratic 
        rights for all Palestinians and Israelis are foreign policy 
        priorities of the United States; and
            (3) 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--
            (1) the military detention of Palestinian children in 
        violation of international law;
            (2) 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
            (3) further annexation of Palestinian land and property in 
        violation of international law.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE.

    (a) 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 Israel may be obligated or expended 
for any of the following:
            (1) 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:
                    (A) Torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading 
                treatment.
                    (B) Physical violence, including restraint in 
                stress positions.
                    (C) Hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, or 
                other forms of psychological abuse.
                    (D) Incommunicado detention or solitary 
                confinement.
                    (E) Administrative detention, or imprisonment 
                without charge or trial, as described in section 2(10).
                    (F) Arbitrary detention.
                    (G) Denial of access to parents or legal counsel 
                during interrogations.
                    (H) Confessions obtained by force or coercion.
            (2) Supporting the seizure, appropriation, or destruction 
        of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in 
        the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank in violation of 
        international humanitarian law.
            (3) 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.
    (b) Certification.--Not later than September 30, 2021, 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 one of the following with respect to 
the preceding fiscal year--
            (1) a certification that none of the funds obligated or 
        expended in the previous fiscal year 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 
        prohibited under subsection (a); or
            (2) a certification that funds obligated or expended in the 
        previous fiscal year have supported or been associated with one 
        or more activities prohibited under 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.

    The Secretary of State shall include, in each report required under 
section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n)--
            (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, 2021, and annually thereafter, the 
Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to Congress a report 
that--
            (1) identifies the specific programs and items funds for 
        offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated to, 
        including specific armed forces branches, units, and 
        contractors;
            (2) assesses executive branch compliance with legislative 
        requirements governing offshore procurements in Israel;
            (3) identifies, in detail, all end-use monitoring the 
        Government of Israel is subject to with respect to United 
        States-origin defense articles; and
            (4) 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 these 
        funds have directly or indirectly supported illegal Israeli 
        settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
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