American families of Palestinian origin filed a complaint against the US State Department over the military aid provided by the United States to Israel, based on a US law that prohibits arming any foreign military force if it is accused of violating human rights.
The lawsuit filed by five families yesterday, Tuesday, 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, which is 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.
“Israeli exception”
Agence France-Presse quoted one of the family members who filed the lawsuit, an American-Palestinian man named Saeed Asali, during a press conference in Washington that his aunt was killed with her six children in an Israeli raid on Gaza City, in which American weapons were used.
Saeed Asali explained, “Our families have paid a heavy price for the Foreign Ministry’s refusal to implement its own laws.”
It also quoted two former employees of the US State Department as saying that US officials apply an informal rule called the “Israeli exception” when it comes to reviewing military actions carried out by Israel.
“The reality is that Israel adheres to different rules,” said one of the two employees, Charles Blaha. “The State Department has created this unique, cumbersome, high-level process that only applies to Israel.”
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, which claimed the lives of more than 45,000. Palestinian until now.
Many organizations, including Amnesty International, also accused Israel of committing genocide against the residents of the Gaza Strip.
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.