By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Palestinian families sued the U.S. State Department on Tuesday over Washington’s support for Israel’s military amid its war in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, a court filing showed.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleged that the State Department under Secretary of State Antony Blinken has deliberately circumvented a U.S. human rights law to continue funding and supporting Israeli military units accused of atrocities in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Leahy Laws prohibit providing U.S. military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice. Both South Africa at the World Court and Amnesty International have accused Israel of committing genocide and war crimes. Israel has denied the charges.
Washington faces criticism from human rights groups for maintaining its support for Israel with no major policy changes.
“The State Department’s calculated failure to apply the Leahy Law is particularly shocking in the face of the unprecedented escalation of Israeli gross violations of human rights since the Gaza War erupted on October 7, 2023,” the lawsuit said.
Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 45,000 people, according to the local health ministry. Israel’s assault has also displaced nearly Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population and caused a hunger crisis.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The lawsuit was filed by five Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the United States. The lead plaintiff was a Gaza teacher who has been displaced seven times in the current war and lost 20 family members, the lawsuit says.
The State Department declined to comment and referred reporters to the Justice Department, which had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; additional reporting by Simon Lewis; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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