Senate blocks Democratic effort to force report on West Bank violence

Republican senators blocked a Democratic attempt to bring up a resolution that would force the Trump administration to report on violence and human rights violations occurring in the West Bank.

The measure would have required the State Department to report on violence against US citizens by Israel in the West Bank, or stop aid to Israel if no report was produced. The motion to bring it up failed by a 47-51 vote. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote against it, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted yes.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led the resolution alongside Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Several other Democratic senators also signed onto the resolution when it was introduced near the end of August.

“In just over four years, nine American citizens have been killed on the West Bank by violent Israeli settlers or members of the Israeli security forces and there has been zero accountability,” Van Hollen said in a speech on the Senate floor before the vote. “It’s long past time that we shine a light on these killings and all of the human rights abuses taking place in the West Bank to get answers.”

Kaine, who has floated similar resolutions to investigate human rights abuses in El Salvador and other countries that have received third-country deportations, said on the floor that he’s heard U.S. military officials describe violence committed in the West Bank by both Israelis and Israeli security forces or reservists.

“The circumstances in the West Bank are pretty dire,” Kaine said. “If you just go based upon Israeli media or Israeli human rights organizations, there have been significant public instances of attacks on Palestinian communities on the West Bank, for which there has been no accountability.”

International criticism of “settler violence,” which is violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, has mounted in recent months amid a surge of attacks.

Kaine reiterated that the U.S. relationship with Israel is one of friendship, but said that reporting about violence and human rights violations should be part of that friendship.

Sanders, for his part, introduced a similar resolution related to violence in Gaza back in January 2024, which received 11 votes. He spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday and called for accountability for perpetrators of violence in Gaza as well as the West Bank.

“Enough is enough. The United States cannot continue to bankroll this violence and look the other way, whether in Gaza or in the West Bank,” Sanders said. “It’s time to end our complicity.”