The U.S. Senate blocked a measure Sept. 29 that would have required the State Department to account for the deaths of nine Americans in the West Bank.
The 47-51 procedural vote stopped a resolution seeking information about killings attributed to Israeli security forces or settlers. Senators declined to advance a mandatory accounting of American deaths involving a country receiving U.S. security assistance.
The division fell almost entirely along party lines. Every Republican who voted opposed advancing the measure, except Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Every Democrat who voted supported it, except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Both independent senators—Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Angus King of Maine, who caucus with Democrats—supported it.
The resolution’s sponsors, led by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sanders, sought information about killings attributed to Israeli security forces or settlers. They said neither the Israeli nor the American government secured justice for the nine citizens.
The proposal would have required the Trump administration to explain what it knew about their deaths and what had been done to hold those responsible accountable.
The Americans Behind the Vote
The resolution identifies Omar Assad, Shireen Abu Akleh, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, Amer Rabee, Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, Khamis Ayyad and Nasrallah Abu Siyam.
The resolution’s list covers West Bank deaths since January 2022. It excludes Americans killed elsewhere, including World Central Kitchen worker Jacob Flickinger in Gaza in April 2024.
The human rights organization DAWN maintains a broader historical list of Americans killed by Israeli forces or settlers since 2003.
Assad was an elderly Palestinian American detained by Israeli soldiers in January 2022. Soldiers bound, blindfolded and gagged him. He was found dead afterward.
His death became part of a dispute over whether the Israeli battalion Netzah Yehuda should remain eligible for American assistance under human rights restrictions. A detailed accountability examination describes how U.S. officials considered withholding assistance and ultimately did not impose that restriction.
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist, died while covering an Israeli operation in May 2022 in Jenin. The U.S. assessment concluded that gunfire from Israeli military positions likely killed her, while finding no reason to believe the shooting was intentional.
Ballistic analyses could not definitively identify the bullet’s origin because it was badly damaged. Those findings illustrate why responsibility, intent and criminal accountability require separate examination.
Several victims were teenagers. The resolution describes Tawfic Abdel Jabbar and Mohammad Khdour as 17-year-olds killed in separate shootings in 2024, and Amer Rabee as a 14-year-old from New Jersey killed by Israeli security forces in April 2025. The resolution presents these accounts as allegations requiring scrutiny.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old American raised in Seattle, died in September 2024. Israel’s military said its troops likely killed her through unintentional gunfire. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken called her killing “unprovoked and unjustified”.
Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, 20, was visiting family when settlers beat him to death in July 2025. His father demanded American action. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the killing a “criminal and terrorist act” and demanded accountability.
Khamis Ayyad, a 40-year-old Palestinian American and father of five, died of smoke inhalation in August 2025 after settlers set homes and vehicles ablaze during an attack on Silwad, according to the resolution’s account.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a 19-year-old American born in Philadelphia, was shot and killed in February 2026 during a settler attack on Palestinian farmers in Mukhmas, near Ramallah.
His death prompted 31 senators to demand an investigation and accountability from the Trump administration. Their letter said none of the nine killings had resulted in accountability from the Israeli government.
A US Veteran Killed in Gaza
Jacob Flickinger, 33, an American-Canadian citizen and Canadian Army veteran, was among seven World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on April 1, 2024. He left behind a partner and young son.
The organization’s tribute to Flickinger describes a disciplined aid worker whose military experience helped him solve problems in chaotic conditions.
Flickinger was not listed among the nine West Bank victims covered by the resolution.
Israel’s initial military investigation attributed the strikes to mistaken identification, decision-making errors and violations of operating procedures. It announced the removal of two officers from their positions and reprimands for senior commanders.
The blocked resolution invoked Section 502B(c), an existing mechanism allowing either congressional chamber to require a State Department statement about a security assistance recipient’s human rights practices within 30 days.
Failure to deliver the statement would halt covered security assistance until submission, unless otherwise specifically authorized by law.
Once a statement arrived, Congress could consider a joint resolution restricting, terminating or continuing assistance. Advancing the reporting measure would not itself have convicted anyone or immediately ended military aid.
The mechanism carries genuine consequences. Opponents could reasonably scrutinize its scope and potential effects on assistance.
But the statute also expressly invites the secretary of state to explain extraordinary circumstances and national interests supporting continued aid. Congress had a way to simultaneously examine American deaths and the case for maintaining support.
The separate Leahy laws restrict assistance to foreign security units implicated by credible information in gross human rights violations, subject to applicable exceptions. Such scrutiny already forms part of security assistance policy.
An Alliance Does Not Answer for American Deaths
Outgoing Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) urged colleagues to oppose the measure and “stand with our ally Israel” against Iranian-backed terrorism.
Daines framed scrutiny of American deaths as a threat to supporting Israel. In his own statement, he said he was “confident this administration will get to the bottom of this issue” while urging senators to reject a requirement that it document its findings.
That position asks Congress to accept confidence in the administration as a substitute for oversight, and families to accept another assurance without an enforceable deadline for answers.
The resolution carried potential consequences for military assistance, but it also allowed the administration to explain why continued support serves American interests.
Senators could support Israel’s defense and still demand an accounting of American deaths.
Blocking the report did nothing to resolve the tension between supporting Israel and securing accountability for American deaths. It simply removed a requirement to explain how the administration was handling it.
