I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3103 To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2023 Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. BEYER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BOW- MAN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. BUSH, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending the Human 4 Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under 5 Israeli Military Occupation Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3103 IH (1) Approximately 3,100,000 Palestinians live 1 in the West Bank, of which around 42 percent are 2 children under the age of 18 who have lived their en- 3 tire lives under Israeli military control. 4 (2) In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, there 5 are two separate and unequal legal systems, with 6 Israeli military law imposed on Palestinians and 7 Israeli civilian law applied to Israeli settlers. 8 (3) Children are entitled to special protections 9 and due process rights under international human 10 rights law and international humanitarian law. 11 (4) Israel has ratified the Convention on the 12 Rights of the Child, which states— 13 (A) in article 37(a), that ‘‘no child shall be 14 subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or 15 degrading treatment or punishment’’; 16 (B) in article 37(b), that the arrest, deten- 17 tion or imprisonment of a child ‘‘shall be used 18 only as a measure of last resort and for the 19 shortest appropriate period of time’’; 20 (C) in article 37(c), that ‘‘every child de- 21 prived of liberty shall be treated with humanity 22 and respect for the inherent dignity of the 23 human person, and in a manner which takes 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3103 IH into account the needs of persons of his or her 1 age’’; and 2 (D) in article 37(d), that ‘‘[e]very child de- 3 prived of his or her liberty shall have the right 4 to prompt access to legal and other appropriate 5 assistance, as well as the right to challenge the 6 legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty 7 before a court or other competent, independent 8 and impartial authority, and to a prompt deci- 9 sion on any such action’’. 10 (5) The Government of Israel and its military 11 detains around 500 to 700 Palestinian children be- 12 tween the ages of 12 and 17 each year and pros- 13 ecutes them before a military court system that 14 lacks basic and fundamental guarantees of due proc- 15 ess in violation of international standards. 16 (6) Israeli security forces detain children under 17 the age of 12 for interrogation for extended periods 18 of time even though the prosecution of children 19 under 12 is prohibited by Israeli military law. 20 (7) Save the Children released a report in 2020 21 based on a survey of more than 470 children de- 22 tained by Israeli forces in the West Bank that found 23 ‘‘[a] majority reported they had endured a dis- 24 tressing or violent arrest or detention, in most cases 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3103 IH at night; a coercive interrogation environment; phys- 1 ical and emotional abuse in detention; and a denial 2 of essential services including an adequate edu- 3 cation—all of which constitute a breach of their 4 rights enshrined in international.’’. 5 (8) The Israeli human rights organization 6 HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual 7 issued a report in October 2020 examining night ar- 8 rests of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the 9 West Bank finding that Israeli authorities continue 10 ‘‘to send soldiers to arrest Palestinian teenage boys 11 at night as a measure of first resort for bringing 12 them in for interrogation. This injurious, traumatic 13 practice leaves the teenagers broken in body and 14 soul, while thwarting the possibility of a fair interro- 15 gation and almost guaranteeing a conviction.’’ In 16 January 2023, new data compiled by HaMoked 17 showed ‘‘show that in 2022, Israel continued and 18 even exacerbated its unlawful practice of night ar- 19 rests of children’’ concluding that ‘‘the majority of 20 these arrests are nothing short of arbitrary ar- 21 rests.’’. 22 (9) The Israeli human rights organization 23 B’Tselem issued a report in 2018 describing the 24 treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli mili- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3103 IH tary occupation: ‘‘Every year, hundreds of Pales- 1 tinian minors undergo the same scenario. Israeli se- 2 curity forces pick them up on the street or at home 3 in the middle of the night, then handcuff and blind- 4 fold them and transport them to interrogation, often 5 subjecting them to violence en route. Exhausted and 6 scared—some having spent a long time in transit, 7 some having been roused from sleep, some having 8 had nothing to eat or drink for hours—the minors 9 are then interrogated. They are completely alone in 10 there, cut off from the world, without any adult they 11 know and trust by their side, and without having 12 been given a chance to consult with a lawyer before 13 the interrogation. The interrogation itself often in- 14 volves threats, yelling, verbal abuse and sometimes 15 physical violence. Its sole purpose is to get the mi- 16 nors to confess or provide information about oth- 17 ers.’’. 18 (10) The 2016 Annual Report on Human 19 Rights Practices of the State Department noted the 20 renewed use of ‘‘administrative detention’’ against 21 Palestinians, including children, a practice in which 22 a detainee may be imprisoned indefinitely, without 23 charge or trial, by the order of a military com- 24 mander or other government official. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3103 IH (11) The nongovernmental organization De- 1 fense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) 2 documented 60 Palestinian children detained and 3 placed in administrative detention, or detention 4 without charge or trial, since Israel renewed the 5 practice against minors in October 2015. 6 (12) DCIP collected affidavits from 766 West 7 Bank children who were detained by Israeli forces 8 from the West Bank between 2016 and 2022, and 9 concluded that— 10 (A) 75 percent of the children endured 11 physical violence following arrest; 12 (B) under Israeli military law, children do 13 not have the right to a lawyer during interroga- 14 tion; 15 (C) 97 percent of the children did not have 16 a parent present during their interrogation; 17 (D) 66 percent of the children were not 18 properly informed of their rights by Israeli po- 19 lice; 20 (E) 86 percent of children were not in- 21 formed of the reason for arrest; 22 (F) 59 percent of children were arrested 23 from their homes during nighttime military in- 24 cursions; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3103 IH (G) interrogators used stress positions, 1 threats of violence, and isolation to coerce con- 2 fessions from detained children; and 3 (H) 178 children were held in pre-trial, 4 pre-charge isolation for interrogation purposes 5 for an average period of 16.5 days. 6 (13) Amendments to Israeli military law con- 7 cerning the detention of Palestinian children have 8 had little or no impact on the treatment of children 9 during the first 24 to 48 hours after an arrest, when 10 the majority of their ill treatment occurs. 11 (14) Israel’s drive to perpetuate its control over 12 the occupied West Bank results in other serious vio- 13 lations of international law, including the unlawful 14 demolition of Palestinian homes and the forcible 15 transfer of Palestinian civilians. 16 (15) The destruction of property in an occupied 17 territory is prohibited under international humani- 18 tarian law, unless absolutely necessary for military 19 operations. 20 (16) Palestinian properties are subject to demo- 21 lition or confiscation as part of Israeli-imposed plan- 22 ning and zoning regimes in Area C and East Jeru- 23 salem and other parts of the West Bank, and sub- 24 ject to punitive demolition following an incident of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3103 IH violence against Israeli military and police forces, 1 settlers, or other civilians. 2 (17) Palestinians are required to obtain Israeli- 3 issued building permits and the lack of permits is 4 typically cited as the reason for demolitions or 5 confiscations, even though, due to the restrictive and 6 discriminatory Israeli planning regime, Palestinians 7 are overwhelmingly denied permits and therefore 8 forced to build without the necessary permits. 9 (18) Between 2016 to 2020, 99.1 percent of the 10 2,550 building permit applications that were sub- 11 mitted by Palestinians in Area C were rejected, with 12 only 24 applications approved. 13 (19) Palestinians are allowed to build in less 14 than one percent of Area C and in only about 15 15 percent of East Jerusalem. 16 (20) Palestinian homes and structures located 17 in Area C and East Jerusalem and other parts of 18 the West Bank are under constant threat of demoli- 19 tion from the moment construction begins and are 20 often demolished with little notice. 21 (21) The United Nations Office for the Coordi- 22 nation for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 23 between April 15, 2021, and March 30, 2023, Israeli 24 authorities demolished or seized 1,840 Palestinian 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3103 IH structures across the West Bank, including East Je- 1 rusalem, resulting in the displacement of 2,170 peo- 2 ple, including 1,104 Palestinian children. 3 (22) OCHA noted that one of the major trends 4 observed in 2020 was the increased use of military 5 orders and other legislation, preventing or limiting 6 the ability of Palestinians to legally challenge the 7 targeting of their homes and sources of livelihood in 8 Israeli courts. 9 (23) In 2018, Israeli forces issued Military 10 Order 1797 that expedites the demolition of new 11 structures that do not have a permit, authorizing the 12 demolition within 96 hours of delivering a demolition 13 order. 14 (24) OCHA reported in March 2023 that 58 15 schools in the West Bank, which are attended by 16 6,500 children, are subject to demolition orders 17 issued by Israeli authorities. 18 (25) Demolitions clearly and deliberately under- 19 mine the prospects for a just and lasting peace be- 20 tween Israel and the Palestinians and create oppres- 21 sive conditions that leave Palestinians with no other 22 choice than to leave their homes and lands. 23 (26) Punitive demolitions function as an act of 24 collective punishment against the families of sus- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3103 IH pects or perpetrators and create insecurity in the 1 surrounding communities. Though Israeli authorities 2 maintain that punitive demolitions are a means of 3 achieving security, Israel does not demolish the 4 homes of Israelis who have committed crimes 5 against Palestinians as part of its policy. 6 (27) The restrictive and discriminatory Israeli 7 planning regime undermines rights and guarantees 8 in international human rights law and international 9 humanitarian law and facilitates unlawful acts and 10 policies, including destruction of property and forc- 11 ible transfer of civilians, expropriation of land and 12 natural resources, illegal settlement expansion, and 13 further annexation of Palestinian land. 14 (28) Jewish-only settlements established by the 15 Government of Israel in the occupied West Bank, in- 16 cluding East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and 17 constitute a flagrant violation under international 18 law and a major obstacle to the achievement of a 19 just and lasting peace between Israel and the Pal- 20 estinians. 21 (29) Unilateral annexation of any part of the 22 occupied West Bank by the Government of Israel is 23 a flagrant violation of international law and a pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3103.IH H3103 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3103 IH hibited act of aggression under Article 2(4) of the 1 United Nations Charter. 2 (30) Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of 3 United States foreign assistance since World War II, 4 receiving from the United States $158,000,000,000 5 (current, or noninflation-adjusted, dollars) in bilat- 6 eral assistance and missile defense funding. 7 (31) In 2016, the United States and Israeli 8 governments signed a new 10-year Memorandum of 9 Understanding (MOU) on military assistance, cov- 10 ering fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2028. 11 (32) Under the terms of the MOU, the United 12 States pledges to provide $38,000,000,000 in mili- 13 tary assistance ($33,000,000,000 in Foreign Mili- 14 tary Financing grants plus $5,000,000,000 in mis- 15 sile defense appropriations) to Israel, replacing a 16 previous $30,000,000,000, 10-year agreement that 17 ran through fiscal year 2018. 18 (33) The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 19 2023 (Public Law 117–328), provides Israel with 20 $3,300,000,000 in Foreign Military Financing 21 (FMF), including $775,300,000 million designated 22 specifically for procurements in Israel, commonly re- 23 ferred to as ‘‘offshore procurements’’, and 24 $500,000,000 in mis [Text truncated for display. 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