Washington:
The US State Department has found five Israeli military units responsible for gross human rights violations in incidents that took place outside Gaza before the conflict erupted between Israel and Hamas in October, the State Department said on Monday.
Four of the units have effectively addressed the violations, while Israel has provided additional information on the fifth unit and the US continues discussions with the government, deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
U.S. arms sales to the units will not be affected, Patel said. He declined to provide details on what human rights violations were committed, which units were involved or what remedial measures were taken.
“After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross human rights violations. These were all incidents long before October 7 and none took place in Gaza,” Patel said.
“Four of these units have effectively addressed these violations, and that is what we expect partners to do. For any remaining unity, we remain in consultation and consultation with the Government of Israel.”
Israel's military behavior has come under increasing scrutiny as its forces have killed some 34,500 Palestinians in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to the enclave's health authorities. The Gaza Strip has been reduced to a wasteland and extreme food shortages have led to fears of famine.
The Israeli strike was launched in response to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, which Israel said killed 1,200 people and took dozens of hostages.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this month that he has taken “a firm stand” on allegations that Israel has violated a series of U.S. laws that ban providing military assistance to individuals or security forces who commit gross human rights abuses.
The Leahy Laws, authored by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security forces who commit gross human rights violations and have not been brought to justice.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that the United States has received new information from Israeli authorities about a specific Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) unit that Washington is reportedly moving to designate over human rights allegations in the West Bank .
In light of the new information, Washington is examining whether the unit is on the path to recovery, the source said.
The specific unit involved, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, was created in 1999 to accommodate the religious beliefs of ultra-Orthodox Jews and other religious nationalist recruits in the military.
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