[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 504 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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 respond 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'';
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;
Whereas CNN reports, based on United States intelligence assessments, that 40 to 
        45 percent of the 29,000 air-to-ground 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 American-provided 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
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON ISRAEL'S HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.

    (a) Statement Requested.--The Senate requests that the Secretary of 
State, not later than 30 days after the date of the adoption of this 
resolution, transmit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives, pursuant to section 502B(c) of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(c)), a statement regarding Israel's human 
rights practices that has been prepared in collaboration with the 
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and 
the Office of the Legal Adviser.
    (b) Elements.--The statement submitted under subsection (a) should 
include--
            (1) all available credible information concerning alleged 
        violations of internationally recognized human rights by the 
        Government of Israel, including--
                    (A) the denial of the right to life in the context 
                of the armed conflict in Gaza and the West Bank caused 
                by indiscriminate or disproportionate operations; and
                    (B) the denial of the right to life and the 
                security of the person by the blanket denial of basic 
                humanitarian needs, including food, water, medical 
                care, fuel, and shelter;
            (2) a description of the steps that the United States 
        Government has taken to--
                    (A) promote respect for and observance of human 
                rights as part of the Government of Israel's 
                activities, including in the context of the armed 
                conflict in Gaza and the West Bank;
                    (B) limit the risk to civilian life and civilian 
                infrastructure caused by Israeli military action in 
                Gaza and the West Bank;
                    (C) discourage any practices that are inimical to 
                internationally recognized human rights; and
                    (D) publicly or privately call attention to, and 
                disassociate the United States and any security 
                assistance provided for the Government of Israel from 
                any practices described in subparagraph (C);
            (3) an assessment, notwithstanding any practices described 
        in paragraph (2)(B), of whether extraordinary circumstances 
        exist that necessitate a continuation of security assistance 
        for the Government of Israel, and if so, a description of the 
        circumstances and the extent to which security assistance 
        should be continued (subject to such conditions as Congress may 
        impose under section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
        (22 U.S.C. 2304));
            (4) a certification that no unit of the Israeli security 
        forces receiving United States assistance since January 1, 
        2018, has--
                    (A) committed any gross violations of human rights; 
                or
                    (B) continued to receive United States assistance 
                in violation of section 620M of the Foreign Assistance 
                Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) or section 362 of title 
                10, United States Code;
            (5) a description of the manner and extent to which the 
        Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense has determined, 
        for purposes of compliance with the vetting requirements of 
        section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
        2378d) and section 362 of title 10, United States Code, that 
        any information relating to the commission of human rights 
        violations by units of Israeli security forces is credible; and
            (6) other information, including--
                    (A) a summary and list of United States weapons and 
                munitions provided to Israel since October 7, 2023;
                    (B) an assessment from the Secretary of State of 
                the likelihood that United States security assistance 
                (as defined in section 502B(d) of the Foreign 
                Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(d))) will be 
                used in support of Israeli activities related to the 
                armed conflict in Gaza and the West Bank;
                    (C) a detailed assessment of the compliance of the 
                Government of Israel with international human rights 
                and humanitarian law during its operations in Gaza and 
                the West Bank since October 7, 2023; and
                    (D) a description and assessment of the actions 
                that the United States Government is taking to ensure 
                end use monitoring protocols for all weapons sold or 
                transferred to the Government of Israel for use in Gaza 
                and the West Bank.
    (c) Gross Violations of Human Rights Defined.--In this section, the 
term ``gross violations of human rights'' has the meaning given the 
term ``gross violations of internationally recognized human rights'' in 
section 502B(d)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2304).
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