Three US government attorneys are accusing the Department of Justice of an “egregious gap” when it comes to upholding US law in cases where Israeli forces or civilians are accused of killing American citizens.
Two of the lawyers, who spoke anonymously to BBC, expressed concerns in a note to US Attorney-General Merrick Garland, that there was a “potential breach of US law”.
They cited the cases of Americans who allegedly died in Israeli attacks on the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and in Lebanon, and demanded that the department open investigations.
When asked about the letter or other issues raised by its writers, the Department of Justice declined comment.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington responded to a question about the cases mentioned in the letter by saying: “The State of Israel adheres to the rule of Law.” The IDF thoroughly investigates every incident and draws conclusions accordingly.
The letter highlights a series of principles that Mr Garland (who leads the Department of Justice) had recently highlighted publicly in relation to US citizens killed abroad.
The top US lawyer has stressed the importance of applying US laws when Americans are killed abroad and the need to extend US jurisdiction in order to prosecute war crimes regardless of nationality.
The letter states: “We are writing to address the gap in our enforcement in connection with possible violations of U.S. laws by Israeli government forces and citizens, as well as others acting in concert with these individuals.”
“Despite credible evidence that U.S. laws have been violated, the Department has not taken public steps to hold perpetrators accountable, even when victims are U.S. Citizens.”
“[T]he Department’s silence and apparent lack of action is a stark oversight,” it continues.
The authors of the letter claim that, unlike the US Department of State (DOS), the Justice Department has no informal mechanism to allow officials to express their disapproval. It’s not clear how widely the views expressed by the letter are shared by the thousands of attorneys working at the department.
In their letter, they cite five US citizens who were killed in the occupied West Bank – Aysenur ezgi eygi, Tawfiq abdel jabbar, Mohammad Khdour, Omar Assad, and Shireen abou Akleh. Their families have demanded accountability from Israeli forces or settlers they believe to be responsible for the deaths.
It also cites cases of American aid worker Jacob Flickinger who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza and Kamel Ahmed Jawad, an American citizen killed in a Israeli airstrike on Lebanon.
Two of the attorneys, both career federal prosecutors at the Department of Justice who wrote the letter spoke to the BBC under condition of anonymity. They signed the letter “your colleagues” to Mr Garland.
One person told the BBC the apparent lack action by the justice department over the deaths of Americans implied that the department was acting as a “apparatus for politics” on behalf of its ally. The second described “disparate treatment” for US citizens with “connections to Palestinians”.
The attorney said, “This is a no-brainer… Everyone in the DoJ agrees that killing an American citizen is not an option. You don‘t do it. “The silence is deafening.”
The letter from the attorneys notes that the US Department of Justice brought charges against Hamas for the killings of American Citizens. It also mentions the US Department of Justice brought the first ever charges under the US War Crimes Statute against members of the Russian Military in connection with the illegal detention of an American National.
It says that the department has not announced any investigations into the deaths of Americans, allegedly caused either by Israeli military forces or civilians.
The attorneys demand that the US “apply a similar rigor” in these cases to all countries.
Their letter is part of a growing number of public criticisms over the past year, backed by hundreds current and former US officials regarding policy on Israel and war in Gaza.
When asked about the letter by the US Department of State regarding such cases, the Justice Department refused to comment. However, the US Department of State stated that Israel conducts its own independent investigations, and that these must be allowed their course.
Human rights groups in Israel and Palestine routinely point out that investigations of this nature almost never result in prosecutions or meaningful accountability.
According to reports, the FBI opened an investigation in the case of Shireen Abakah, the Palestinian-American Al Jazeera reporter who was killed by Israeli forces in occupied West Bank in 2022.
The US justice department never confirmed this, and no charges were ever brought against anyone involved in the case.
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