Palestinians File Lawsuit Against US State Department Over Military Support for Israel.

Five Palestinians have filed a lawsuit against the US State Department, demanding that it reduce its support for the Israeli military or at the very least stop backing Israeli units accused of committing severe human rights violations in Gaza. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday (US local time), is calling for accountability in the wake of escalating violence in the region.

According to Al Jazeera, the lawsuit was filed by five Palestinians residing in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and the United States. It cites the 1990s US “Leahy Law,” which prohibits foreign military assistance to units committing gross human rights violations. The plaintiffs accuse Israel of a range of violations, including extrajudicial killings and torture, particularly since the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7, 2023.

The lawsuit states that the US State Department had the legal tools to apply the Leahy Law, but failed to do so despite the escalating violence. “The unprecedented escalation of Israel’s human rights violations since the start of the Gaza war is appalling,” the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.

One of the plaintiffs, a woman from Gaza who is using the pseudonym Amal Gaza, shared her personal devastation. A teacher by profession, Amal has been displaced seven times since the war began, and tragically, 20 members of her family have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

“My suffering, and the unimaginable loss to my family, would be significantly reduced if the United States stopped providing military support to Israeli units that commit these gross human rights violations,” Amal said in a statement.

When contacted for comment, the US State Department declined to speak on the pending case, with a spokesperson saying, “We do not comment on ongoing legal matters.”

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