[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3634
To express the sense of Congress regarding the conduct by the Netanyahu
administration in Gaza and to impose sanctions to discourage
governments from obstructing humanitarian assistance, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 14, 2026
Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To express the sense of Congress regarding the conduct by the Netanyahu
administration in Gaza and to impose sanctions to discourage
governments from obstructing humanitarian assistance, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Accountability for
Withholding Aid and Relief Essentials Act of 2026'' or the ``AWARE Act
of 2026''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress.
Sec. 4. Statement of policy.
Sec. 5. Identification of covered persons obstructing humanitarian
assistance.
Sec. 6. Imposition of sanctions.
Sec. 7. Waiver for national security interests.
Sec. 8. Termination of sanctions.
Sec. 9. Congressional oversight.
Sec. 10. Sunset.
Sec. 11. Severability.
Sec. 12. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to many credible nongovernmental
organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders, the Government
of Israel under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has heavily restricted the distribution of food,
fuel, medicine, and other humanitarian assistance to civilians
in Gaza.
(2) The United States has at times had to take
extraordinary measures to work around the Netanyahu
administration's restrictions in order to provide aid to the
people of Gaza.
(3) In a longitudinal, cross-sectional study published in
``The Lancet'' in October 2025, medical scholars from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency found that, between January
2024 and August 2025, during the Netanyahu administration, tens
of thousands of preschool-aged children in Gaza were suffering
from preventable acute malnutrition and faced an increased risk
of mortality.
(4) The entire population of the Gaza Strip, an estimated
2,200,000 people, is facing acute levels of hunger and,
according to the United Nations, since January 2025, more than
20,000 children have been identified as suffering from acute
malnutrition, a telltale sign of imminent famine. To a great
extent, this is a result of the policies of Prime Minister
Netanyahu.
(5) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency states that
the amount of aid allowed into Gaza must reach a minimum of 500
to 600 truckloads of meaningful aid per day to meet the
necessary minimum to prevent starvation.
(6) During the Netanyahu administration, from May 19, 2025,
through January 7, 2026, according to the Monitoring and
Tracking Dashboard of the United Nations Office for Project
Services, fewer than 17,000 trucks of humanitarian aid had made
it to any of the crossings along Gaza's perimeter.
(7) According to the Netanyahu administration's Ministry of
Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, nongovernmental
organizations wishing to supply humanitarian assistance in Gaza
must be registered with and approved by an inter-ministerial
team led by the Director General of Ministry of Diaspora
Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.
(8) According to the Netanyahu administration's Ministry of
Defense of the State of Israel, Israel's Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories office, which assists
in determining the eligibility of a nongovernmental
organization in the registration approval process, requires
additional clearance for and coordination with nongovernmental
organizations.
(9) There already exist established, universal standards,
such as the Sphere standards and the United Nations coordinated
response guidance, that an organization must meet in order to
function as a credible, legitimate humanitarian organization.
(10) Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the
existence of mass hunger and starvation in Gaza.
(11) According to Doctors Without Borders and Human Rights
Watch, Palestinians in Gaza in need of aid receive
contradictory and counterproductive information regarding aid
availability, often with very little notice from the Netanyahu
administration, which leads to confusion, puts them in
dangerous situations, and diminishes their ability to actually
secure aid.
(12) According to a July 23, 2025, statement from more than
100 nongovernmental organizations, the Netanyahu
administration's Coordinator of Government Activities in the
Territories office heavily restricted the humanitarian
assistance distributed outside of the Gaza Humanitarian
Foundation network.
(13) On July 1, 2025, more than 170 nongovernmental
organizations, such as Doctors Without Borders, called for the
dismantling of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation as a result of
its violations of international norms associated with
humanitarian work and concerns of harm to civilians at
distribution centers of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
(14) During the Netanyahu administration, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported
that more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed
seeking food, more than 800 of whom were killed at or around
distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
(15) During the Netanyahu administration, Human Rights
Watch has reported that multiple sources, including former
staff of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, have witnessed
instances of the Israel Defense Forces opening fire on aid-
seeking Palestinians with live ammunition near distribution
sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
(16) The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation received on-ground
logistical and security support from Safe Reach Solutions and
UG Solutions.
(17) The Government of Israel and Hamas entered into a
ceasefire on October 10, 2025.
(18) The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended its
operations on October 10, 2025, following the start of the
ceasefire.
(19) Despite the suspension of operations by the Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation, numerous nongovernmental organizations
have reported that Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions plan
to continue operations in Gaza.
(20) Despite the ceasefire and the proposed increase in
humanitarian assistance, restrictions on delivery and
distribution persist under the Netanyahu administration and
actual levels of humanitarian assistance remain well below what
is needed.
(21) More than 40 nongovernmental organizations operating
on the ground in Gaza issued a statement on October 23, 2025,
stating that, despite the ceasefire, Israeli authorities under
the Netanyahu administration have continued to arbitrarily
reject shipments of humanitarian assistance into Gaza,
including items such as blankets, mattresses, food and
nutrition supplies, hygiene kits, sanitation materials,
assistive devices, and children's clothing, and have caused
almost $50,000,000 of essential goods to sit stockpiled at the
crossings, unable to be distributed.
(22) The Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora
Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, the Minister of Diaspora
Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, the Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories, the General Staff of
the Israel Defense Forces, the Chief of the General Staff of
Israel Defense Forces, the Defense Minister of Israel, and the
Prime Minister of Israel all have authorities to help ensure
the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian
civilians in Gaza.
(23) The Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating
Antisemitism, the Defense Minister of Israel, and the Prime
Minister of Israel all have authority to change policy to
ensure the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
(24) International humanitarian law, including customary
norms and treaty law, prohibits the use of starvation as a
method of warfare and requires the protection of civilians'
access to humanitarian assistance.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) Israel has the right to self-defense and the United
States is committed to helping Israel safeguard its people from
future aggression;
(2) Hamas should be condemned in the harshest terms for its
premeditated, coordinated, and brutal terrorist attacks on
Israel;
(3) Hamas's abductions and threats made against hostages,
including threats to use hostages as human shields, are
abhorrent;
(4) Hamas should immediately cease its attacks against
Israel and return the body of the deceased hostage;
(5) the people killed by Hamas's terrorist attacks deserve
to be commemorated, and the hostages, people wounded, and their
families deserve the support of the people of the United
States;
(6) all countries should unequivocally condemn Hamas's war
on Israel, including Hamas's intentional targeting of, and
attacks against, civilians;
(7) the United States appreciates the global advocacy
efforts calling for the release of all hostages;
(8) Iran's support for global terrorism, including its
support for terrorist groups, such as Hamas and Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, should be condemned and opposed by all available
means;
(9) the blocking of the borders of Gaza by the
administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2025,
which prohibited entry of food, medicine, infant formula, fuel,
and other humanitarian assistance and essential services,
should be condemned;
(10) the vast majority of men, women, and especially
children in Gaza, are civilians and not agents of Hamas;
(11) actions by the Netanyahu administration that have
contributed to the humanitarian crisis and acute suffering of
Palestinians are horrifying;
(12) occupying powers have a responsibility to ensure the
safety and well-being of the civilians in the occupied
territory;
(13) the Netanyahu administration has implemented policies
that have regularly and deliberately undermined the delivery
and distribution of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in
Gaza, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza;
(14) the restrictions on aid are being carried out by the
political appointees and senior military leadership of the
Netanyahu administration;
(15) the restriction of aid by the Netanyahu administration
is not consistent with the State of Israel's core values and
commitment to human rights;
(16) the Netanyahu administration's conduct has eroded the
State of Israel's standing in the world by undermining the rule
of law and violating fundamental human rights;
(17) the United States can support the State of Israel's
right to exist while opposing the policies and conduct of the
Netanyahu administration;
(18) the United States condemns the Netanyahu
administration for restricting aid, but it continues to greatly
value its relationship with the State of Israel;
(19) the Netanyahu administration's restrictions on aid
create dire conditions for the civilians of Gaza, including
death from starvation;
(20) children dying of starvation serves no military aims
for Israel;
(21) such dire conditions undermine Israel's future
security;
(22) Prime Minister Netanyahu or his successor should
immediately facilitate the delivery of neutral, independent,
impartial, and safe distribution of humanitarian assistance by
all legitimate local and international actors to end the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza as soon as possible;
(23) legitimate local and international actors delivering
and distributing humanitarian assistance should at all times be
safe from deliberate, incidental, and collateral harm from
operations by Israel and its surrogates, including under the
Netanyahu administration; and
(24) the President, the Secretary of State, and the heads
of other relevant United States Government agencies should
urgently use all available diplomatic tools--
(A) to maintain the ceasefire and hostage release
agreement agreed to by Israel and Hamas on October 10,
2025;
(B) to bring about an immediate and sustained surge
in humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in
Gaza; and
(C) to lay the groundwork for a broader regional
peace through implementation of the 20-point plan
included in the agreement described in subparagraph
(A).
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) protected persons are entitled at all times to
sufficient humanitarian assistance;
(2) if a government is unable or unwilling to ensure
delivery and distribution of sufficient humanitarian assistance
to a territory under its control, that government must allow
any and all United States and internationally recognized
humanitarian organizations to deliver and distribute sufficient
humanitarian assistance to the protected persons in that
territory; and
(3) any covered persons acting on behalf of a government
found to be restricting, diminishing, undermining, or
preventing the delivery and distribution of sufficient
humanitarian assistance to protected persons, including
protected persons residing in a territory under the
government's control, are in violation of the policy described
in paragraphs (1) and (2).
SEC. 5. IDENTIFICATION OF COVERED PERSONS OBSTRUCTING HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a
report that includes--
(1) a list of all covered persons the President determines
are in violation of the policy described in section 4;
(2) for each such person--
(A) a justification for inclusion of the person on
the list, including a description of the information
supporting the inclusion of the person;
(B) a statement of which, if any, of the sanctions
described in section 6 have been imposed, or will be
imposed, with respect to the person within 30 days of
the submission of the report; and
(C) if sanctions under section 6 have not been
imposed and will not be imposed within 30 days of the
submission of the report with respect to the person--
(i) an identification of the specific
authority under which otherwise applicable
sanctions are being waived, have otherwise been
determined not to apply, or are not being
imposed; and
(ii) a complete justification of the
decision to waive or otherwise not apply the
sanctions;
(3) if few or no such persons have been added to that list
during the year preceding submission of the report, a
description, prepared jointly by the Secretary of the Treasury
and the Secretary of State, of the reasons for not adding more
such persons to the list; and
(4) a description, prepared jointly by the Secretary of the
Treasury and the Secretary of State, of efforts by the
executive branch to encourage the governments of other
countries to impose sanctions that are similar to the sanctions
imposed under this Act.
(b) Form of Report.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided by paragraph (2), each
report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in an
unclassified form.
(2) Exception.--The name of a person to be included in the
list required by subsection (a)(1) may be submitted in a
classified annex to the report required by subsection (a) only
if the President--
(A) determines that it is vital for the national
security interests of the United States to do so;
(B) uses the annex in a manner consistent with the
intent of Congress and the purposes of this Act; and
(C) not less than 15 days before submitting the
name in a classified annex, provides to the appropriate
congressional committees and leadership--
(i) notice of, and a justification for,
including or continuing to include the person
in the classified annex despite any publicly
available credible information indicating that
the person engaged in an activity in violation
of the policy described in section 4; and
(ii) notice of, and a justification for the
issuance of any waiver issued with respect to