Palestinian families sue US over involvement in ‘human rights abuses’ through support to Israeli military

The lawsuit, announced on Tuesday, accuses the Department of State of failing to implement a US federal law that prohibits the transfer of funds to foreign military units engaged in gross violations such as extrajudicial killings and torture, Al Jazeera reported.

“The State Department’s calculated failure to apply the Leahy Law is particularly shocking in the face of the unprecedented escalation of Israeli [gross violations of human rights] since the Gaza War erupted on October 7, 2023,” the lawsuit stated.

Hamas carried out a massive terror attack on Israel on October 7 killing over 1200 people and holding over 250 as hostages. Around 100 of them are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza.

Israel launched a strong counter-offensive targeting Hamas units in Gaza in an operation that has killed over 45,000 Palestinians.

A Gaza teacher referred to by the pseudonym Amal Gaza is a plaintiff in the case. She has been forcibly displaced seven times since the war began and 20 of her family members have been killed in Israeli attacks, the report stated.

“My suffering and the unimaginable loss my family has endured would be significantly lessened if the US stopped providing military assistance to Israeli units committing gross violations of human rights,” she said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit.

The case centres around what’s known as the Leahy Law, a federal regulation that bars the US government from providing funds to foreign military units when there is “credible information” implicating them in gross violations of human rights.

Those violations include torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and rape, the US State Department says in a factsheet explaining the law.

According to Al Jazeera, the US provides Israel with at least USD 3.8 billion in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional USD 17.9 billion since the start of the Gaza war.

The Biden administration did consider cutting off assistance to an Israeli army unit over its use of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank as well as its involvement in the death of an elderly Palestinian American.

However, the State Department ultimately determined that the Netzah Yehuda Battalion could continue to receive American military aid after it said allegations of abuse had been “effectively remediated,” the report added.

Notably last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of “crimes against humanity and war crimes.” (ANI)