Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7545 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7545

 To prohibit funds made available for assistance to the Government of
 Israel to be used to support certain violations of international law,
                        and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2026

   Ms. McCollum (for herself, Ms. Pingree, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr.
Carson, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Casar, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Omar,
Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Norton, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms.
Jayapal, Mr. Tonko, and Mr. Pocan) introduced the following bill; which
            was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To prohibit funds made available for assistance to the Government of
 Israel to be used to support certain violations of international law,
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Defending the Human Rights of
Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military
Occupation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In the West Bank, Israeli military law is applied to
        Palestinians while Israeli civilian law is applied to Israeli
        settlers, resulting in different legal protections, including
        for minors.
            (2) Each year, Israeli authorities detain and prosecute
        hundreds of Palestinian minors within a military court system
        that does not consistently provide timely access to legal
        counsel, parental presence during interrogation, or other basic
        due process guarantees as required under international human
        rights and humanitarian law, including the Convention on the
        Rights of the Child, which Israel ratified in 1991.
            (3) Reports by Israeli, Palestinian, and international
        human rights organizations have documented the use of nighttime
        arrests, coercive or prolonged interrogations, and prolonged
        administrative detention of Palestinian minors without charge
        or trial, practices inconsistent with international standards
        for the treatment of children in detention.
            (4) Israel's ongoing imposition of a restrictive planning
        and permitting regime in Area C of the West Bank and East
        Jerusalem results in the routine demolition or confiscation of
        Palestinian homes and structures.
            (5) These demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem
        contribute to the displacement of Palestinian families,
        heighten tensions on the ground, and impede efforts to create
        conditions conducive to long-term stability and peace for
        Israelis and Palestinians alike.
            (6) The expansion of Israeli settlements and any steps
        toward unilateral annexation of parts of the West Bank
        contravene international law.
            (7) Israel receives significant United States security
        assistance, including Foreign Military Financing and funds
        designated for ``offshore procurement'', which constitutes an
        exception to standard United States arms transfer and
        assistance practices, under which a portion of United States
        assistance may be used to procure defense articles produced in
        Israel.
            (8) Congress has an interest in ensuring that all United
        States-origin defense articles and funds are used in a manner
        consistent with United States laws, regulations, and policy
        objectives.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) actions by the Government of Israel in the occupied
        West Bank, including the detention and prosecution of
        Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system, the
        seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property
        and forcible transfer of civilians, and further annexation of
        Palestinian land in violation of international law and
        internationally recognized standards of human rights--
                    (A) are contrary to the values of the American
                people and the efforts of the United States to support
                self-determination, human rights, and dignity for both
                Palestinians and Israelis; and
                    (B) undermine efforts by the United States to
                achieve a just and lasting peace between Israelis and
                the Palestinians;
            (2) promoting human rights, human dignity, and democratic
        rights for all Palestinians and Israelis are foreign policy
        priorities of the United States; and
            (3) the United States rejects any undemocratic system or
        act of aggression in which Israel unilaterally exercises
        permanent rule over a Palestinian people denied self-
        determination and human rights.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States not to support actions by the
Government of Israel involving--
            (1) the military detention of Palestinian children in
        violation of international law;
            (2) the seizure, appropriation, and destruction of
        Palestinian property or the forcible transfer of civilians in
        the occupied West Bank in violation of international law; or
            (3) further annexation of Palestinian land and property in
        violation of international law.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none
of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available
for assistance to the Government of the State of Israel may be
obligated or expended for any of the following:
            (1) Supporting the military detention, interrogation,
        abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children in violation of
        international humanitarian law or to support the use against
        Palestinian children of any of the following practices:
                    (A) Torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading
                treatment.
                    (B) Physical violence, including restraint in
                stress positions.
                    (C) Hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, or
                other forms of psychological abuse.
                    (D) Incommunicado detention or solitary
                confinement.
                    (E) Administrative detention, or imprisonment
                without charge or trial.
                    (F) Arbitrary detention.
                    (G) Denial of access to parents or legal counsel
                during interrogations.
                    (H) Confessions obtained by force or coercion.
            (2) Supporting the seizure, appropriation, or destruction
        of Palestinian property or forcible transfer of civilians in
        the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank in violation of
        international humanitarian law.
            (3) Deploying, or supporting the deployment of, personnel,
        training, services, lethal materials, equipment, facilities,
        logistics, transportation, or any other activity to territory
        in the occupied West Bank to facilitate or support further
        unilateral annexation by Israel of such territory in violation
        of international humanitarian law.
    (b) Certification.--Not later than September 30, 2027, and annually
thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on
Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee
on Foreign Relations of the Senate, with respect to the fiscal year
ending on such date--
            (1) a certification that none of the funds obligated or
        expended for assistance to the Government of Israel have been
        used by such Government to support personnel, training, lethal
        materials, equipment, facilities, logistics, transportation, or
        any other activity that supports or is associated with any of
        the activities described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of
        subsection (a); or
            (2) a certification that funds obligated or expended have
        supported or been associated with one or more activities
        described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a),
        along with a report describing in detail the amount of such
        funds used by the Government of Israel in violation of such
        subsection and each activity supported by such funds.

SEC. 6. OVERSIGHT AND ADDITIONAL REPORTING.

    Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Activities by the Government of Israel.--The report required
under subsection (d) shall include--
            ``(1) a description of the nature and extent of detention,
        interrogation, abuse, or ill treatment of Palestinian children
        by Israeli military forces or police in violation of
        international humanitarian law;
            ``(2) a description of the nature and extent of the
        seizure, appropriation, or destruction of Palestinian property
        in the Israeli-controlled and occupied West Bank by Israeli
        authorities in violation of international humanitarian law; and
            ``(3) a description of the nature and extent of Israeli
        settlement activities, including an assessment of the
        compliance of the Government of Israel with United Nations
        Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016).''.

SEC. 7. GAO REPORT ON ISRAEL'S EXPENDITURES FOR OFFSHORE PROCUREMENT.

    Not later than September 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a
report that--
            (1) identifies the specific programs and items for which
        funds for offshore procurement in Israel have been allocated by
        the United States, including specific branches, units, and
        contractors of the Armed Forces;
            (2) assesses executive branch compliance with legislative
        requirements governing offshore procurements in Israel;
            (3) identifies, in detail, all end-use monitoring the
        Government of Israel is subject to with respect to United
        States-origin defense articles; and
            (4) analyzes the effects of offshore procurements on
        Israel's military budget and domestic economy since 1991,
        including an assessment of the manner and extent to which funds
        provided for offshore procurement have directly or indirectly
        supported illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied
        West Bank.
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