Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, plans to introduce a resolution ordering the Trump administration to detail Israel’s human rights practices in the West Bank. Co-signed by 10 Senate Democrats, the measure invokes the Foreign Assistance Act to demand State Department reports on U.S. security aid recipients. The resolution is privileged, allowing Van Hollen to force a vote even without Republican support.

It highlights the killings of at least nine U.S. citizens since January 2022, including Shireen Abu Akleh and Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, alleging Israeli authorities have failed to hold perpetrators accountable. Van Hollen stated, “We’ve seen ongoing human rights violations on the West Bank, but we’re going from bad to abysmal.” The move follows growing Democratic concern over settler violence, which rose 30 percent in early 2025 compared to the previous year. Senator Cory Booker’s West Bank Violence Prevention Act, which Van Hollen co-sponsored, stalled in the Republican-led Foreign Relations Committee.

J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group, supports sanctions against extremist settlers. Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter called settler violence a “stain” on Israel, while U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee condemned recent attacks on Palestinian families, including one owned by American citizen Louai Abu Ridi, calling the settlers’ actions “thuggish” and “disgusting.”.