Israel lashes out over the possibility of US cuts in aid to the army battalion

Tel Aviv – Israeli leaders have lashed out at the prospect of the Biden administration cutting aid to one of the Jewish state’s army battalions over allegations that it committed human rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Sanctions against the Israeli army’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion could be announced in the coming days, according to a report from Axios.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested a decision had been made on Friday when asked about internal investigations under a US law that bans military aid from being sent to foreign forces that abuse human rights.

Asked about the US study, Blinken said on Friday that it would be “fair to say that you will see results very quickly. I’ve made decisions; you can expect them in the coming days.

The government has been investigating the IDF unit since 2022, a US official told CBS News. The battalion came under heavy criticism after a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man was found dead after being detained by IDF soldiers at a checkpoint in the West Bank in January that year.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted angrily to the possibility of his military being punished over the more than two-year-old allegations as it continues its fight. war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“If anyone thinks he can impose sanctions on any unit of the IDF, I will fight against it with all my might,” the Israeli leader said.

In a separate statement, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, praising it for fighting Hamas’ ally Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, and “most recently they are dismantling Hamas Brigades in Gaza.”

“The battalion’s activities are conducted in accordance with the values ​​of the IDF and in accordance with international law,” Gallant said, stressing that “any event that deviates from the above standards will be addressed accordingly” by the IDF and Israel legal system.

“Any attempt to criticize an entire unit casts a heavy shadow on the actions of the IDF, which operates to protect the citizens of Israel. Damage to one battalion affects the entire defense establishment – ​​this is not the right path for partners and friends,” he said. “I call on the US government to withdraw its intention to impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda Battalion.”

A US official pointed out that the US is not considering imposing sanctions on units in the IDF, clarifying that “without confirming what may be contemplated, under the Leahy Act, certain units would be ineligible for US security assistance until violations are resolved.” have been remedied.”

The suggestion that the US could cut off aid to a military unit from its long-time ally has turned the spotlight on the IDF, as Netanyahu and his military continue to deal with domestic backlash for failing to stem Hamas’ bloody terror attack of October 7. that caused the war in Gaza.

In the first top-level fallout from this failure, the IDF announced that the head of Israel’s military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, would resign once a successor had been appointed.

Haliva said last year, not long after October 7, that he accepted responsibility for the intelligence failure that allowed Hamas to launch its unprecedented attack on Israel. In that attack, Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 others hostage.

Israel’s retaliatory war against Hamas, through which Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the Palestinian group, has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry. The ministry’s count does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but the United Nations says most of the dead are women and children.

The IDF released a video it said showed a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarm over the weekend. The IDF said 14 militants were killed, but residents, like Palestinians in Gaza, say they have borne the brunt of Israeli retaliation.

When IDF forces withdrew from Tulkarm they left behind massive destruction, and residents told CBS News they had never seen anything like it in the occupied Palestinian territory, which is significantly larger than Gaza.

During the mission, Israeli bulldozers destroyed homes and shops, destroyed roads and cut pumps and power lines, cutting off electricity and water supplies.

“The attack was wild,” said resident Salah Yousif. “They came from four different directions.”

In Gaza, meanwhile, the war is approaching the seven-month mark, with officials in the Hamas-run enclave saying nearly 15,000 children have been killed. That includes members of a family who died in a strike over the weekend in the southern city of Rafah. Officials in Gaza said that attack killed 16 people, most of them children.

The US has warned Netanyahu, along with other Israeli allies, against going ahead with his plan to launch a major military ground operation in Rafah, fearing it could lead to massive civilian casualties in the city, where an estimated 1, 5 million Palestinians have sought refuge. It is the only major city in Gaza that IDF forces have yet to enter since October 7, but Netanyahu has vowed to order the raid, saying some Hamas fighting units are still hiding there.

Tucker Reals and Sara Cook contributed to this report.