Senator Bernie Sanders to Push for Vote to Investigate Human Rights in Gaza

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will force the Senate to vote on whether to require the State Department to examine Israel’s human rights practices in Gaza, The Washington Post reported.

Sanders will reportedly use a lesser-known mechanism in the Foreign Assistance Act to force a vote Tuesday on a resolution that would require the State Department to create a report on any human rights abuses committed during the war on Hamas following the attack on Israel on Oct. 7. If the department does not produce a report after 30 days, U.S. assistance to Israel would be blocked.

“In essence, we will be voting on a very simple question: Do you support asking the State Department whether human rights violations may have occurred using U.S. equipment or assistance in this war?” Sanders said last week in a Senate floor speech. “This resolution is not prescriptive — it does not alter aid to Israel in any way. It simply requests that the State Department report on how our aid is being used.

“We are trying to call attention to some unpleasant realities that I think a lot of people would prefer not to deal with,” he told the Post in an interview Tuesday.

He added, “Many Americans do not want to see our country complicit in a horrific humanitarian disaster which is causing so much suffering.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby criticized the proposal in a statement.

“We do not believe that this resolution is the right vehicle to address these issues. And we don’t think now is the right time,” Kirby said. “It’s unworkable, quite frankly. The Israelis have indicated they are preparing to transition their operations to a much lower intensity. And we believe that transition will be helpful both in terms of reducing civilian casualties, as well as increasing humanitarian assistance.”