Americans filed a lawsuit against the US government, accusing it of failing to rescue them or their family members who were trapped in the Gaza Strip, where Israel killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and injured more than 100,000 others during its ongoing aggression against the Strip.
The lawsuit – filed by 9 Americans of Palestinian origin yesterday, Thursday – accuses the US State Department of discriminating against Americans of Palestinian origin, by abandoning them in a war zone and not making an effort similar to what it makes to evacuate and protect Americans of other origins in similar situations.
The plaintiffs’ right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution was violated by denying them “the federal government’s normal and exemplary evacuation efforts for non-Palestinian Americans,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit cited similar cases of the US government evacuating its citizens from other conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Sudan, and referred to US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as defendants.
In response to these accusations, a US State Department spokesman said that the department does not comment on existing lawsuits, but stressed that the safety and security of American citizens around the world is a “top priority.”
A State Department spokesman said that the United States evacuated Americans from unsafe areas around the world, including Gaza.
The second issue
It is noteworthy that this is the second case against the US government this week, as American families of Palestinian origins filed a complaint against the State Department due to the military aid that America provides to Israel, based on a US law that prohibits arming any foreign military force if it is accused of violating the rights of the US government. man.
The lawsuit filed by five families in the US District Court for the District of Columbia stated that the State Department under the leadership of Anthony Blinken deliberately circumvented a US human rights law to continue funding and supporting the Israeli army accused of committing atrocities in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
The lawsuit is based on the Leahy Law, which prohibits the provision of US military assistance to individuals and security and military units that commit serious human rights violations.
The plaintiffs said that their lives were threatened, and that they lost members of their families in Israeli military operations during which American weapons were used.
The Dawn organization, which facilitated the procedures for filing the case, said that the lawsuit demands that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comply with the law.
The lawsuit, which the US State Department must respond to within 60 days, demands that the law be applied to Israel, which the complainants and human rights organizations say has been illegally exempted from this law.
American aid
Since the start of the devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the United States has enacted laws allowing it to provide the equivalent of $12.5 billion in military aid to Israel.
The flow of American weapons to Israel continues despite accusations against Tel Aviv of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, as South Africa filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide and war crimes during its aggression against the Gaza Strip.
Several organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, also accused Israel of committing genocide against the residents of Gaza.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
