[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 206 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6000-S6001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 504--REQUESTING INFORMATION ON ISRAEL'S HUMAN RIGHTS 
PRACTICES PURSUANT TO SECTION 502B(C) OF THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF 
                                  1961

  Mr. SANDERS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 504

       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

[[Page S6001]]

     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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