Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act is one of the most powerful tools Congress has to exercise human rights oversight on the executive, including through mandating annual country reports on human rights practices. Over the past year, members of Congress have looked to this lesser-known section of the law as a means to ensure elected representatives in Congress have access to the best information available to consider whether U.S. taxpayers are funding violations of international law.
One hundred days after the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and the Israeli military campaign that followed, a meaningful debate on U.S. support for Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank is needed, including the extent to which U.S. military funding may be supporting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. This resolution would provide a first step to ensuring that the U.S. is collecting and reporting data relevant to such a debate.
“In their stated intent to use all means to destroy Hamas, Israeli forces have shown a shocking disregard for civilian lives. They have killed civilians on a mass scale and pulverized street after street of…
