Who are the Netzah Yehuda battalion? The IDF unit dealing with US sanctions accused of violations in West Bank | EUROtoday

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Israeli leaders have mentioned they’ll struggle sanctions being imposed on any army items for alleged human rights abuses after media studies mentioned Washington was planning its first sanctions towards the nation’s defence forces.

The United States will impose the sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion over its remedy of Palestinians within the West Bank, Israeli media reported.

The Netzah Yehuda battalion was arrange in 1999 to accommodate the non secular beliefs of ultra-Orthodox Jews and different non secular nationalist recruits within the military.

The authorities created the battalion as a pathway for these teams to serve within the army by permitting them to keep up their non secular practices, reminiscent of giving them time for prayers and examine and limiting their interactions with ladies troopers.

The United States referred to as for a prison investigation after Netzah Yehuda troopers have been accused of being concerned within the demise of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, who died of a coronary heart assault in 2022 after he was detained and was later discovered deserted at a constructing website.

A Palestinian post-mortem discovered Assad died from a stress-induced coronary heart assault introduced on by being manhandled.

The case attracted uncommon consideration due to his twin nationality, his age, and a requirement by the US State Department for an investigation into his demise.

The Israeli army mentioned troopers briefly gagged him with a strip of fabric and cuffed his arms with a zipper tie due to his refusal to cooperate.

Netzah Yehuda’s battalion commander was reprimanded and two officers have been dismissed however Israeli army prosecutors determined towards pursuing prison prices as a result of they mentioned there was no hyperlink between the errors made by troopers and Assad’s demise.

The Military Advocate General mentioned a army medical official discovered it unimaginable to find out that his demise was brought on particularly by the troopers’ conduct, and that the troopers couldn’t have been conscious of his medical situation.

There have been a number of different incidents in recent times, some captured on video, through which Netzah Yehuda troopers have been accused of, or charged with, abusing Palestinian detainees.

The battalion primarily operated within the West Bank earlier than it was moved out of the territory in late 2022 after US criticism. The unit has just lately been serving in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday mentioned he has made “determinations” concerning accusations that Israel violated a set of US legal guidelines that prohibit offering army help to people or safety pressure items that commit gross violations of human rights.

The Leahy Laws, authored by then-Senator Patrick Leahy within the late Nineteen Nineties, prohibit offering army help to people or safety pressure items that commit gross violations of human rights and haven’t been dropped at justice.

Blinken mentioned an announcement may very well be made “very soon”.

Israeli leaders reacted angrily to studies of the sanctions.

Netanyahu on Sunday referred to as the potential of sanctions on the unit “the peak of absurdity and a moral low” at a time when Israeli forces are combating a battle in Gaza towards Hamas. He mentioned that his authorities would “act by all means” towards any transfer.

Benny Gantz, a minister within the nation’s battle cupboard, spoke to Blinken on Sunday and requested that he “reconsider the prospective decision”.

The Israeli army mentioned the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an lively fight unit that operates in line with the rules of worldwide regulation.