Senator Chris Van Hollen slams Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over deaths of Americans in the West Bank, raising concerns over violence, civilian deaths and U.S. citizens affected by the conflict. Watch the full remarks and latest developments surrounding Israel, the West Bank and U.S.-Israel relations.
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#ChrisVanHollen #BenjaminNetanyahu #WestBank #Israel #Palestine #USPolitics #IsraelPalestine #BreakingNews #MiddleEast #AmericanCitizens
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NewsTranscript
00:00...violence and human rights abuses taking place in the West Bank, including against
00:05American citizens. And I want to thank Senator Sanders, Senator Kaine, and 23 of our fellow
00:13senators who are co-sponsoring this effort. And I want to thank Senator Sanders for bringing
00:20that 502B resolution to the floor of the Senate back in January of 2024.
00:28In just over four years, nine American citizens have been killed on the West Bank by violent
00:38Israeli settlers or members of the Israeli security forces. And there has been zero, zero accountability.
00:47No justice for their families. No one held accountable. The United States government has repeatedly
00:55said that our number one priority overseas is to protect American citizens. And yet,
01:04as violent Israeli settlers continue to terrorize civilians in the West Bank, American citizens
01:09have been killed time and again, in many cases with the complicity of the government of Israel,
01:16the Netanyahu government. It's long past time that we shine a light on these killings and
01:23all of the human rights abuses taking place in the West Bank to get answers. We need to
01:29get answers because we need accountability. And we need accountability to make sure that
01:35these killings end. They will continue so long as nobody is held to account.
01:42Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes to tell my colleagues about these nine American citizens
01:47citizens who've been killed by Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces in just over the last
01:53four years. In January 2022, a 70-year-old American citizen, Omar, who ran a grocery store in Milwaukee
02:02for 40 years, was stopped at a checkpoint in the West Bank when Israeli soldiers dragged him from his car.
02:10They bound his hands behind his back, they gagged him, they blindfolded him, and they left him lying
02:15on the ground outside. He died of a stress-induced heart attack. No one has been held accountable.
02:26In May 2022, Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akhle, who lived in New Jersey as a child,
02:33was reporting near the Janine refugee camp when she was shot in the head and killed by Israeli security.
02:39security forces. Shireen was known to millions as the, quote, voice of a generation. When she was killed,
02:47she was wearing a bright blue vest, clearly identifying her as a journalist. No one has been held accountable.
02:58In January 2024, a 17-year-old American citizen named Tafiq, who was born and raised in Louisiana,
03:05was shot in the head and killed while driving east of Ramallah. Reports indicate that an Israeli settler,
03:12an off-duty Israeli police officer, and an Israeli soldier were involved in the shooting. Nobody held
03:19accountable. Just weeks later, another 17-year-old American boy, Mohammed, who was born in Florida,
03:25was shot twice in the head while driving near the town of Bidu. Israeli forces were reportedly responsible
03:33for his killing. No one has been held accountable. In September 2024, 26-year-old American citizen,
03:44Aishaner, who was raised in Seattle, was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier from approximately 200
03:50meters. No one has been held accountable. In April 2025, 14-year-old Amer from New Jersey was shot and
04:00killed by
04:00Israeli security forces at the entrance to the village of Tar Moussa. Reports indicate that when
04:07he was shot, he was shot 11 times by two different weapons. No one has been held accountable.
04:16In July 2025, 20-year-old American citizen Saif, born and raised in Florida, was visiting family in the
04:23West Bank when he was beaten to death by violent Israeli settlers during the attack on the town.
04:29Eyewitnesses reported that settlers and Israeli security forces blocked an ambulance from reaching him
04:35for more than two hours. Ambassador Huckabee called Saif's killing, quote,
04:42a criminal and terrorist act, unquote. He even said there must be accountability.
04:50So why has there been no accountability? In August 2025, Kamis, a 40-year-old American citizen who lived
05:00in Chicago with his five children, died of smoke inhalation after violent Israeli settlers set fire to
05:06homes and homes and cars during an attack in Silwatt. No one has been held accountable. And in February of
05:15this year, Nasrallah, a 19-year-old American boy born in Philadelphia, was shot and killed by violent Israeli
05:22settlers during an attack on Palestinian farmers near Ramallah. No one has been held accountable.
05:31Omar, Shireen, Tafiq, Mohammed, Aishaner, Amir, Saif, Kamis, and Nasrallah. Nine American citizens, dead.
05:42No accountability. Their families have waited months and years for answers. Many of us have been calling
05:51for action from the executive branch and accountability from the Netanyahu government year after year with no
05:57political results. In March of this year, 30 senators and I wrote to Secretary Rubio, following some of the killings
06:06I just talked about. That was the second letter we had sent to this administration in seven months regarding the
06:15killing of an American citizen in the West Bank. In response to our earlier letter, the State Department told us,
06:21and I quote,
06:21the United States calls for accountability in all cases where U.S. citizens are harmed abroad to help
06:28prevent future tragedies, unquote. To help prevent future tragedies, we call for accountability. No
06:37accountability in any of these nine cases. This president is clear that these calls for accountability
06:45are empty promises. Because what we're seeing is a consistent pattern in which Americans are being
06:51killed by violent Israeli settlers or Israeli security forces with no justice and no accountability from
06:57any party, despite promises to take action by American officials. And this failure is not limited to the
07:05current administration. Many of us called upon the Biden administration for answers, just as we have
07:14pushed the Trump administration for answers in action. Back then, as now, we're met with statements of concern and told
07:23that the United States supports accountability. It just never insists on it. Because concern is not enough when
07:32nine Americans are dead and not one person, not one, has been held accountable. How many more Americans must die
07:40in the
07:40West Bank? Before this administration takes serious, credible steps to secure accountability? Before the United States
07:47government does its job and follows through when it says its top priority is to protect American citizens overseas?
07:56Mr. President, last year, Senator Merkley and I traveled to the region where we met with families of
08:03American citizens, most of them under 18, who had been killed by violent settlers or the Israeli military.
08:11We sat across from parents and family members who'd lost their children and loved ones. None of them, not one,
08:20had received any meaningful answers about what happened to their loved ones who were killed.
08:26We also met the father of Mohammed, who was a 16-year-old American boy from Florida, who'd been jailed
08:33without
08:33charges for more than six months at the time of our meeting. Mohammed was ultimately held in pre-trial detention
08:42for nine months, where he was beaten, tortured, and denied contact with his family. He was finally released on
08:50Thanksgiving Day last year. But the mistreatment and detention of American citizens continues to this
08:57moment. In June, 20-year-old Palestinian American student, Sama, whose family lives in Florida and
09:05Massachusetts, was detained during a series of raids targeting students at Birzeit University.
09:12She remains in an Israeli military prison. In July, Adam, a 16-year-old Palestinian American whose
09:20family lives in Chicago, was arrested. His family paid his bail, and he was moments away from being
09:26released when Israeli authorities decided to hold him under an entirely new case. He remains in an Israeli
09:33military prison. And there are other cases of American citizens being held in Israeli military
09:41prisons as we speak. Reports from these prisons have revealed abusive and traumatic conditions for
09:48those detained, including children and teenagers. In fact, under the Israeli military court system,
09:5816- and 17-year-olds are sentenced under provisions written for adults, while Israeli citizens and children
10:05living in those same territories are tried under Israeli civilian courts and under Israeli juvenile
10:11law. Beyond those detained, many Americans continue to face violence and destruction throughout the
10:18West Bank as Israeli settlers and soldiers act with impunity. Just in August, 82-year-old Palestinian
10:27American Kamis was hospitalized after Israeli soldiers attacked him. After the attack, the soldiers then
10:35confiscated bystander footage of the incident to cover up their violent actions. You can see the video
10:41for yourself. And just this week, Israeli settlers attacked the home and destroyed the vehicles
10:47of a 78-year-old Palestinian American, Mustafa and his wife. Even those who have not been attacked or
10:55detained are living in fear, like Louis, a 46-year-old Palestinian American businessman who traveled from
11:02Ohio to visit his family members in the West Bank after their home was surrounded and besieged by Israeli
11:09settlers. Mr. President, the American government has absolutely failed in its duty to secure any
11:17kind of accountability for the killings of and the arbitrary detention of and ongoing violence against
11:23these American citizens. And if nothing changes, more American citizens will die. After all, the
11:30administration told us that one reason for accountability is to make sure this doesn't happen
11:34again. And yet there's no accountability. And without accountability, it will happen again.
11:39The failure of the United States and Israeli governments to hold anyone responsible for
11:44these abuses has only paved the way for more abuses and more killings to follow.
11:50And if American citizens can be killed, harmed, or locked up with impunity, imagine what the conditions are
11:58for Palestinians in the West Bank who don't hold an American passport, including Palestinian children.
12:06Hundreds of Palestinian children are detained and prosecuted through the Israeli military court
12:13system every year. Those in prison can be as young as 12 years old, the age of criminal responsibility
12:21in the Israeli military legal system. But children as young as five years old have been temporarily
12:27detained. And a child as young as three years old was once arrested.
12:32As of December 2025, the Israeli prison service reported that it was holding 351
12:39Palestinian children. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli authorities continue to bar the Red Cross
12:48from visiting Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention facilities, despite the fact that
12:54international humanitarian law requires that the ICRC have access to Palestinian detainees in Israeli
13:01custody. Human rights organizations have documented widespread reports of physical beatings, sexual
13:07violence, harassment, threats, and other cruel and degrading actions toward these children.
13:13We've seen violent Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian civilians with impunity. They're pushing
13:18Palestinians off their land, burning cars and buildings and mosques, destroying crops and water systems,
13:25and assaulting residents in their own communities. Many members of the extremist Netanyahu government have
13:32encouraged this activity. When Senator Merkley and I visited the West Bank last year, it was clear that the
13:40situation had worsened considerably just since our previous trip in 2023. We saw more trailers and illegal
13:49settler outposts springing up across the West Bank. We saw more checkpoints and gates and walls imprisoning
13:54Palestinian communities. In the mostly Christian town of Taipei, we heard directly from residents about
14:01settler attacks and harassment, including an attack that happened on the day of our visit.
14:06President, we visited the historic church that settlers had attempted to damage.
14:13Mr. President, these are not isolated incidents. According to the United Nations, last year alone,
14:20there were 1,828 settler attacks against Palestinian residents, resulting in bodily injury or property
14:28damage. In 2025, the Netanyahu government approved a record-high 54 new official settlements
14:36established 86 new outposts and advanced plans for nearly 28,000 illegal settlement housing units.
14:44The question is, when will the United States government, whether the previous White House or
14:51the current White House, stop giving Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government a blank check
14:56to let this continue? Secretary Rubio has said the United States is, quote, concerned, unquote,
15:05about escalating settler violence in the West Bank. As present, concern is not enough when nine
15:13American citizens have been killed. Concerns are not enough when we have American citizens in military
15:20detention. Concern is not enough when violent settlers are attacking Palestinian communities
15:25with impunity. Just last night, violent settlers attacked a village of Palestinians, setting their
15:33homes on fire and destroying their property. The State Department's response today, quote,
15:40we condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and support appropriate investigations,
15:45legal accountability, judicial processes for those responsible, unquote.
15:51Pablum. Meaningless, empty statements when they're not accompanied by any demand for real
15:57accountability. They continue to call for accountability, but we never see it. And that brings
16:05us to the resolution today, Mr. President, because this resolution requires the Secretary of State
16:11to provide a report with all credible information available to the State Department concerning the
16:16killing of nine American citizens who were named in the resolution and whose stories I share today.
16:23It also requires an accounting of American citizens currently held in Israeli military prisons,
16:29including why are they being held, whether the American embassy officials have visited them,
16:34the conditions of their detention, and whether there are credible reports that they have been
16:39mistreated. Basic information. That's what we're demanding in this resolution.
16:48Resolution requires they examine the detention of Palestinian children, including how many are held,
16:54the charges against them, whether they have access to legal counsel, whether they've experienced
16:58torture or other mistreatment, and how the standards governing their detention compare
17:04with American juvenile detention standards. And above all, the resolution requires that the State
17:10Department tell Congress what the United States has actually done to protect U.S. citizens,
17:17to prevent further violence, to promote respect for human rights, and hold the perpetrators of these
17:23abuses accountable. These are basic questions that Congress has both the right and the responsibility to
17:32ask of the executive branch. The United States provides billions of American taxpayer dollars to the
17:39government of Israel every year. We have a duty to make sure that those funds are being used in
17:45accordance with our laws and our values. Some of my colleagues may disagree with my assessment of the
17:52Netanyahu government's policies, although the record is clear regarding the fact that they have engaged in
18:00complicity in what's happening in the West Bank. And some may disagree about other aspects of what's
18:06happening here. But what this vote is about, what this vote about is about there should be no disagreement,
18:11because it just requires the State Department to provide facts. That's what this administration does.
18:19And if the State Department believes that everything is just okay, that there are investigations that are
18:27being conducted by the government of Israel, and that their expressions of concern are actually being acted
18:35upon, the administration should have no problem answering those basic facts and demanding the kind of
18:43accountability they say that we should call for. So, Mr. President, if the killing of nine Americans does not
18:49justify a report from our own State Department, I would ask my colleagues what would. How many more Americans
18:55must be killed before the executive branch does its job? These families deserve answers. The American people
19:04deserve answers. And the Palestinians who face these attacks every single day deserve an end to the violence
19:11and impunity once and for all. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support SRES 852. And I yield the
19:20floor.
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