WASHINGTON, United States: The United States has concluded that five Israeli security force units committed grave human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank before the Hamas attack on October 7.
The US State Department said Monday that Israel has taken remedial measures with four of these units, making US sanctions less likely. It further said that consultations are under way with Israel over the fifth unit, said Vedant Patel, the State Department deputy spokesman, at a news briefing in Washington.
He, however, declined to identify the units, give details of the abuse, or say what measures the Israeli government had taken against them.
A US official speaking on condition of not to be named said the fifth unit is part of the army.
Media reports have identified a battalion called the Netzah Yehuda, composed mainly of ultra-Orthodox Jews, as being accused of abuses in the West Bank.
The unit is about 1,000-strong and has been stationed in the West Bank since 2022.
“After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights,” Patel told the media-men.
All the incidents took place before the October 7 Hamas attack and were not in Gaza, he added.
Patel further said that four of these units have effectively remediated these violations adding Israel has provided “additional information” about the fifth unit.
US law bars the government from funding or arming foreign security forces against which there are credible allegations of human rights violations.
Israel is among the United States allies around the world to whom it provides military aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted angrily to the recent news reports that the US might impose sanctions against an Israeli military unit because of human rights abuses, saying the army should not be punished with the country at war.
The State Department deputy spokesman said the US would continue its evaluation of the fifth army unit and has not decided whether to deny it US military aid.
This case comes with the Biden administration under pressure to seek accountability from Israel over how it is waging war against Hamas, with such a high civilian death toll.
