US Democrats push ‘Justice for Hind Rajab Act’ amid Oscar buzz for film about death of 6-year-old Gazan

ISTANBUL

US Democratic lawmakers have introduced the Justice for Hind Rajab Act, demanding that the State Department disclose all it knows about the killing of 6-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in Gaza and whether any Americans were involved, US media reported on Thursday.

The Hollywood Reporter said the proposed law, spearheaded by Senator Peter Welch and representatives Pramila Jayapal and Sara Jacobs, would require the secretaries of state and defense to submit a report within 45 days outlining whether the killing violated the US Foreign Assistance Act and the Leahy Law, which bars US military aid to foreign forces that commit human rights abuses.

The legislation comes as Rajab’s death on Jan. 29, 2024, when she and five family members were shot by Israeli soldiers while fleeing northern Gaza, has become a symbol of the broader humanitarian crisis, with Gaza’s Health Ministry reporting more than 20,000 children killed in the Israeli offensive since October 2023.

$21.7 billion in US military aid to Israel since October 2023

“Since October 7, 2023, the United States has provided more than $21,700,000,000 in military assistance to Israel, which has funded a majority of the expenses needed by the Israel Defense Forces to conduct the war in Gaza,” the bill said, citing the date the Israeli offensive began.

It added that “an estimated 10,000 people from the US were activated for the war in Gaza.”

Critics have accused the administration of former US President Joe Biden -- which was in office when the offensive began -- of deflecting responsibility by referring inquiries to Israel, according to Middle East Eye.

“It's obvious -- Israel can't be trusted to investigate itself. That's why we need international bodies like the International Criminal Court … & why we need Bills like the Justice for Hind Rajab Act,” A New Policy, a US-based advocacy group, said in a post on the US social media company X.

The bill’s introduction coincides with growing attention to Rajab’s story through the Oscar-nominated film The Voice of Hind Rajab, which dramatizes her final calls for help to Palestinian aid workers and is expected to contend in the international film category at Sunday’s Academy Awards.