US says 5 Israeli military units committed gross human rights violations before Gaza war
The US State Department found five Israeli military units responsible for gross human rights violations in incidents outside Gaza before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last October, the State Department said on Monday.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that four of the entities have effectively remedied the violations, while Israel has submitted additional information regarding a fifth entity and is continuing negotiations with the US government.
US arms sales to the units will not be affected, Patel said. He declined to provide specific information on what human rights violations were committed, which entities were involved or what corrective measures were taken.
Patel said, “After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross human rights violations. All of these incidents occurred long before October 7 and none of the incidents took place in Gaza.”
He said, “Four of these units have effectively remedied these violations, which is what we expect from partners. For the remaining unit, we will continue consultation and engagement with the Government of Israel.”
Israel’s military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed some 34,500 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to health officials in the enclave. The Gaza Strip has turned into a wasteland and there is a fear of famine due to severe food shortages.
The Israeli attack was launched in response to a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which Israel says killed 1,200 people and took several hostages.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had made a “decision” regarding allegations that Israel violated a set of US laws that prevent individuals or security force units from committing gross human rights violations. Prohibits providing military assistance.
The Leahy Law, written by US Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, prohibits providing military assistance to individuals or security force units who commit gross human rights violations and have not been brought to justice.
The US has received new information from Israeli officials about a specific Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) unit that Washington is reportedly moving to designate over human rights allegations in the West Bank, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Had been.
In light of the new information, Washington is looking at whether the unit is on track to reform, the source said.
The specific unit involved, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, was established in 1999 to accommodate the religious beliefs of ultra-Orthodox Jews and other religious nationalist recruits to the army.