DOJ Lawyers push for probe into Israel’s killing of Americans, possible war crimes by Israeli forces: Report
In an internal letter to the Attorney General, the lawyers highlight “potential violations” of US law as well as the silence of their own department

Washington (Quds News Network)- Lawyers at the US Department of Justice have sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking him to investigate “potential violations of US law by Israel’s government, military, and citizenry, and hold the perpetrators to account.”
The letter, dated October 21 and exclusively obtained by news website Zeteo, the lawyers highlighted three areas of potential inquiry, the report said: Illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, possible war crimes and torture committed by Israeli forces and recent Israeli army killings of US citizens.
“We honor the Department’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting crimes regardless of the perpetrator’s race or nationality and regardless of political considerations. We know you do too, Attorney General Garland,” the letter’s authors write, citing a speech Garland delivered to the department last month.
“In your speech, you stressed the importance of the ‘fair and impartial application of our laws.’ You also quoted the Principles of Federal Prosecution and reminded us that, as attorneys for the government, we should not be influenced by, among other factors, a person’s background, our feelings concerning the victim, and the effect of a charging decision on our professional and personal circumstances. You told us that ‘we must treat like cases alike,’ … And finally, you insisted that, guided by these norms, ‘we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics.’”
That includes American Turkish activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was fatally shot by Israeli forces at a West Bank protest in September, and Shireen Abu Akleh, an Al Jazeera journalist who was killed by the Israeli army in 2022 while covering a raid in Jenin.
Washington initially called for accountability in Abu Akleh’s killing. But it shifted its position after Israel admitted that its soldiers killed her and dismissed the incident as an accident, refusing to open a criminal investigation. By September 2022, the US dropped its demand that the perpetrators be prosecuted.
The war crimes and torture commityed by the Israeli forces include killing thousands of civilians, forcibly displacement and starvation, unlawful confinement, torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, and mass destruction of civilian property and infrastructure.
The lawyers also pointed to the fact that the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.
“So, to what extent is the DOJ looking into these accusations? … the US has an affirmative obligation under international law to prosecute or extradite those responsible for grave breaches. And the question is whether or not DOJ is actually implementing US treaty obligations.”
In Monday’s letter, the DOJ attorneys write that the department “has appropriately demonstrated its commitment to upholding the rule of law in the midst of ongoing geopolitical conflicts” when it came to Russia, Hamas, and others, but that, “against the backdrop of numerous potential violations of U.S. law by individuals and entities affiliated with Israel, the Department’s silence and apparent inaction is a stark omission.”