Several Palestinian families submitted a lawsuit against the US State Department on Wednesday as they challenged Washington’s defense of Israel’s military attacks in Gaza. The defendants, who are residents from Gaza, the West Bank, and the United States, claim that the US is enabling human rights violations by providing military support to Israel.
The lawsuit, filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, claims that the US is violating the 1997 Leahy Law, which prohibits military aid to foreign entities involved in human rights abuses. The plaintiffs argue that exceptions granted to Israel undermine the law’s purpose and contribute to harm against Palestinian civilians.
Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian American party to the lawsuit, said, “My surviving family members in Gaza have been forcibly displaced four times since October, living in constant fear of indiscriminate Israeli attacks carried out with American weapons.” He further argued that the US government’s military aid to Israeli forces allows harm to him and his family, which violates US laws.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller responded with an email saying he was “not aware” of the lawsuit and referred further queries to the Department of Justice.
US spent at least $17.9 billion in military aid for Israel during the first year of its Gaza offensive, said a report by the Costs of War project of Brown University.
In parallel, Hamas and Israel have truce negotiations in Qatar with Hamas describing the talks as “serious and positive,” the militant group expressed hopes for a possible ceasefire as well as prisoner exchange with Israel if it stops issuing new conditions. The meeting, which is mediated by both Qatar and Egypt, happened after weeks of escalated confrontation in Gaza.
The lawsuit marks a new level of international scrutiny of US military aid to Israel in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
