Israeli Army Units Accused of Human Rights Violations by US
The US State Department confirmed that the Israeli army was involved in human rights violations during practices committed against Palestinians in the West Bank. It was revealed today that Washington concluded that five Israeli army units committed violations against Palestinians in the West Bank before the Hamas attack in October, and four of them took measures to eliminate the possibility of imposing US sanctions on them.
Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Vedant Patel said that consultations with the Israeli government regarding the fifth unit in question in the Israeli army are continuing. He added: After a careful operation, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents that constitute serious human rights violations. He continued: “All of these incidents occurred long before October 7, and none occurred in Gaza.
The spokesman noted that “four of these units effectively addressed these violations, which is what we expect from our partners,” noting that the Israeli government provided additional information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the fifth unit. The official refused to identify these units or specify the sanctions that Israel imposed on them.
Press reports mentioned accusations, especially against the “Netzah Yehuda” battalion, which is composed mainly of extremist soldiers. US law prohibits the government from granting funding or sending weapons to foreign security force units when there is reliable information indicating their involvement in human rights violations.
For more than six months, the Israeli army has been waging a war against the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by the conflict, and on the Lebanese border on an almost daily basis.
This month, the United Nations Human Rights Council called for a halt to any arms sales to Israel against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip in a resolution that expressed fears of genocide against the Palestinians.
The Human Rights Council took, for the first time, a position on the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel. In the text, the Council adopted a strong tone towards Israel, but it does not have any binding means to enforce the implementation of its decisions.
28 of the 47 members of the Council voted in favour of the resolution, compared to six who voted against it, including the United States and Germany, while 13 countries abstained from voting, including France, India and Japan.
The spokesman noted that “four of these units effectively addressed these violations, which is what we expect from our partners,” noting that about the fifth unit, the Israeli government “provided” additional information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Patel refused to identify these units or specify the sanctions that Israel imposed on them. Press reports mentioned accusations, especially against the Netzah Yehuda Brigade, which is composed mainly of ultra-Orthodox soldiers.
A 1997 law passed by then-US Senator Patrick Leahy bars US foreign aid and Department of Defense training programs from going to foreign security, military and police units that credibly commit human rights abuses.
Netzah Yehuda is an Israeli military unit stationed in the West Bank. It has become a destination for right-wing extremist settlers who have not been accepted into any other combat unit in the IDF.
