In an unprecedented legal challenge, Palestinian victims have filed a lawsuit against the US State Department, alleging that it is deliberately circumventing a crucial human rights law to continue providing military aid to Israeli forces accused of gross violations and war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. The move marks the first time the Leahy law, which prohibits assistance to military units credibly implicated in human rights abuses, has been invoked to demand a halt to the billions in US aid flowing to Israel.
The plaintiffs, including Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans, point to the skyrocketing civilian death toll in Gaza, which sources say is approaching a staggering 45,000 since last October alone. With millions displaced, vital infrastructure decimated, and humanitarian aid severely restricted, they argue immediate action is needed to cut off the US weapons enabling the onslaught.
US Officials Quietly Reviewed Abuses, But Shielded Aid
While the Leahy law was enacted in 1997 to bar aid to security forces committing gross human rights violations, a bombshell investigative report earlier this year revealed that when it comes to Israel, the State Department plays by different rules. Insider sources described how top officials had reviewed over a dozen incidents of alleged atrocities by Israeli units since 2020, but implemented bureaucratic workarounds to sidestep any impact on the military aid spigot.
“The State Department is fully aware of the shocking scale of violations, but is going to Kafkaesque lengths to avoid ever having to officially determine Israeli forces ineligible under Leahy,” said a former official familiar with the process. “When it comes to Israel, there’s always a way to keep the weapons and aid flowing, no matter what.”
Demanding Judicial Intervention to Uphold the Law
Fed up after months of inaction as the civilian toll mounted, the plaintiffs are now demanding the courts compel the government to comply with its own statutes. “The State Department can’t just grant Israel a free pass to commit war crimes with impunity using US-supplied weapons,” said lead counsel on the case. “The Leahy law exists for a reason, and it’s time it was enforced.”
Advocates emphasize that the law is not about singling out Israel, but about consistently upholding human rights standards and the rule of law for all US military aid recipients. However, they argue the sheer scale and gravity of Israeli violations, and the just as staggering US complicity in enabling them via an unconditional stream of advanced weapons, makes this an exceptionally egregious case crying out for accountability.
Slim Hopes for Ceasefire as Killing Continues
Meanwhile, after 14 months of relentless bombardment and a strangling blockade, slim hopes are emerging for a possible Israel-Gaza hostages-for-ceasefire deal. Officials involved expressed cautious optimism, but emphasized the still fragile and uncertain nature of discussions. In the meantime, the bombs continue to fall, demolishing homes, claiming lives, and razing what remains of Gaza’s battered infrastructure with each passing day the war rages on.
For the lawsuit plaintiffs and millions of suffering Palestinians, the burning question is if the US judiciary will finally be the line in the sand forcing a reckoning with the Leahy law, or if business will continue as usual, with American weapons, funding – and complicity – fueling the killing unabated. In an interconnected world and the court of global opinion, the stakes could hardly be higher. All eyes are now on the courts to uphold human rights and the rule of law for some of the world’s most vulnerable and abused populations.
