H.R. 7545 — Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act

This section states the following congressional findings: (1) Israeli military law applies to Palestinians in the West Bank while civilian law applies to Israeli settlers, resulting in different legal protections including for minors; (2) Israeli authorities annually detain and prosecute hundreds of Palestinian minors in a military court system that does not consistently provide timely legal counsel, parental presence during interrogation, or other due process guarantees under international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Israel ratified in 1991; (3) reports document nighttime arrests, coercive interrogations, and prolonged administrative detention of Palestinian minors inconsistent with international standards; (4) Israel's restrictive planning regime in Area C of the West Bank and East Jerusalem results in routine demolitions of Palestinian structures; (5) such demolitions displace families, heighten tensions, and impede stability and peace; (6) Israeli settlement expansion and steps toward West Bank annexation contravene international law; (7) Israel receives significant U.S. security assistance, including Foreign Military Financing and offshore procurement exceptions; and (8) Congress seeks to ensure U.S.-origin defense articles and funds align with U.S. laws, regulations, and policy objectives.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank—including detention and prosecution of Palestinian children in military courts, seizure and destruction of Palestinian property, forcible transfer of civilians, and annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law and human rights standards—are contrary to U.S. values and undermine U.S. peace efforts; (2) promoting human rights, dignity, and democratic rights for Palestinians and Israelis is a U.S. foreign policy priority; and (3) the United States rejects any undemocratic system or act of aggression in which Israel unilaterally exercises permanent rule over Palestinians denied self-determination and human rights.

This section establishes a U.S. policy 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.

This section prohibits obligating or expending any funds authorized for U.S. assistance to Israel for (1) supporting military detention, interrogation, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in violation of international humanitarian law, or supporting specified practices against such children (i.e., torture or cruel treatment; physical violence including stress positions; hooding, sensory deprivation, death threats, or psychological abuse; incommunicado detention or solitary confinement; administrative detention or imprisonment without charge or trial; arbitrary detention; denial of access to parents or legal counsel during interrogations; or 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; or (3) deploying or supporting deployment of personnel, training, services, lethal materials, equipment, facilities, logistics, transportation, or other activities in the occupied West Bank to facilitate unilateral annexation by Israel in violation of international humanitarian law. This section further directs the Secretary of State to submit to specified House and Senate committees, not later than September 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, a certification that no such funds have supported those activities or, if they have, a detailed report on the amounts used and activities involved.

This section requires the annual human rights report under subsection (d) of section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961—transmitted by the Secretary of State to specified congressional committees and describing the status of internationally recognized human rights, including gross violations, in countries receiving certain U.S. foreign assistance—to 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).

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