A group of Democratic senators have urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to address what they described as “many hundreds” of potential violations of US human rights law by Israeli military units in Gaza, citing a classified State Department report.
In their letter, led by Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the lawmakers said a classified report by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), reported by The Washington Post last month, “found that Israeli military units committed ‘many hundreds’ of potential violations of US human rights law in the Gaza Strip that would take the State Department ‘multiple years’ to review.”
“Given these findings, we urge you to quickly implement the OIG’s recommendations and adjudicate these cases in a timely manner in order to ensure compliance with US law,” they wrote.
The senators warned that delays in reviewing incidents of killing, torture and other abuses risk undermining US laws that bar security assistance to foreign military units credibly accused of such violations.
“Without effective enforcement mechanisms, these laws and policies become meaningless,” they said.
Senators Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, Brian Schatz, Tim Kaine, Patty Murray, Tina Smith and Ed Markey also signed the letter.
The lawmakers asked Rubio to respond by 9 December with detailed plans to review potential Leahy Law violations by Israeli security units, including what resources would be needed and how vetting procedures would be standardised across countries.
A State Department official told the Post the department “is aware of and complies with its legal obligations.”
The United States has not ruled any Israeli unit ineligible for assistance under the Leahy Law, despite high-profile cases still under review, including the killings of World Central Kitchen aid workers in April 2024 and the deaths of more than 100 Palestinians near Gaza City in February 2024 as they gathered around aid trucks.
The Leahy Law requires the US to withhold military assistance from foreign military or law enforcement units if there is credible evidence of human rights violations.
Israel has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in its genocide in Gaza since October 2023.
