H.R. 7545

[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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