Senate blocks resolution seeking report on West Bank killings

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked a resolution that would have required the State Department to report on Americans killed in the occupied West Bank and the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention.

The measure, introduced by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, sought an unclassified report within 30 days on investigations into the Americans’ deaths, the treatment of U.S. citizens held in Israeli prisons and conditions facing Palestinian children in military detention. It cited a “lack of accountability” by Israel’s government and an “inability to secure justice” by the United States, according to Al Jazeera.

The Guardian reported that the resolution failed 47-51, while Al Jazeera put the vote at 47-53. Both reported that senators voted largely along party lines. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to oppose advancing the measure, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to support it.

Van Hollen forced the vote under Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, which allows lawmakers to seek State Department reports on the human rights practices of countries receiving U.S. security assistance. The Guardian reported that the measure had 24 Democratic sponsors, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

The resolution cited nine Americans killed in the West Bank since 2022. They included Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist killed while reporting in Jenin in May 2022, and Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier in September 2024. Sayfollah Musallet, 20, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in July 2025. The Guardian reported that he was visiting family in the village of Sinjil and that his family said settlers surrounded him for more than three hours and blocked an ambulance from reaching him.

The Guardian also reported that Khamis Ayyad, a 40-year-old father of five from Illinois, died of smoke inhalation weeks later after settlers set fire to cars and homes in the village of Silwad. Van Hollen said none of the Americans’ cases had resulted in accountability from either the Israeli or U.S. government.

“If the killing of nine Americans does not justify a report from our own state department, I would ask my colleagues: what would?” Van Hollen said in a Senate floor speech. “These families deserve answers.”

Al Jazeera reported that the resolution also addressed Palestinian Americans in Israeli custody. It cited Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida teenager arrested in February 2025 and held in pretrial detention for nine months without contact with his family. U.S. embassy officials and lawyers who met him told his family that he had lost nearly a quarter of his body weight and contracted scabies, Al Jazeera reported. The resolution also noted that he had been beaten and tortured.

The vote came amid reports of settler violence and displacement. The Guardian cited a Human Rights Watch report saying settler attacks and settlement expansion had fully or partly displaced 107 Palestinian communities, comprising about 5,900 people, since January 2023. It also cited a U.N. report documenting 1,732 settler attacks that caused injuries or property damage in the 12 months through October 2025.

“While I was pleased that so many of my Democratic colleagues joined this effort, it’s clear the United States must do more,” Van Hollen said after the vote.