Israel slams US decision: Israel slams US decision to sanction military unit srs

The US is expected to announce sanctions against a unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, Axios reported on Saturday. This is the first time the Biden administration has taken action against the Israeli military.

The Netza Yehuda Battalion has been mired in controversy in the past over its violence against Palestinians. This included the death of 78-year-old Palestinian-American Omar Asad, who died after being detained by battalion soldiers. According to a report by The Times of Israel, he was found handcuffed, blindfolded and then left frozen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not like the planned US move, calling such a move “the height of absurdity and moral degradation”.

Related News

“No sanctions against the Israel Defense Forces! In recent weeks, I have been working against sanctions against Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior US government officials,” he tweeted.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said the sanctions against the soldiers were a red line. Gvir called the Axios report “serious” and said he hoped Defense Minister Yove Galant would not bow to the American directive.

If Israel’s Defense Ministry does not take steps to support the battalion, he said, it will be asked to integrate it with the country’s border police.

In December 2022, Israel moved the unit out of the West Bank, and since then it has served mostly in the northern parts of the country. But the administration has denied the news that the battalion was transferred due to the behavior of the soldiers.

The laws, named after then-Senator Patrick Leahy, prevent units or individuals from receiving military aid if they are accused of human rights abuses and not brought to justice, The Times of Israel reported.

The report comes days after ProPublica reported that a State Department panel had recommended sanctions against several Israeli units, including Netza Yehuda, for alleged human rights abuses. Notably, several soldiers from the battalion were involved and had previous convictions for torturing Palestinian prisoners.

The US has imposed sanctions against individuals for violence against Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 last year. So far 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel and killed 1,200 people there, sparking the war.

The latest sanctions came into force on Friday, including the leader of the far-right group Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, who is a close ally of Gvirin, The Times of Israel reported.