US accuses Israeli military of crimes in the West Bank, but maintains support | middle East

The United States concluded that five Israeli Army units committed “serious human rights violations” against Palestinians in the West Bank, even before the escalation of violence that followed the Hamas attack on October 7. However, the US did not limit military support to the same units.

“After a careful process, we concluded that five Israeli battalions were responsible for incidents that constituted serious human rights violations,” State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel explained this Monday, clarifying that the cases occurred before the October attack and outside the Gaza Strip.

Four of these units took “corrective measures” to circumvent US law prohibiting military assistance to foreign forces accused of human rights violations, and did not face any legal proceedings.

According to the spokesperson, the four units “effectively remedied such violations, as partners are expected to do”, thus complying with the United States national security memorandum, which establishes that American weapons must be used without violating the right international humanitarian.

Regarding the fifth battalion, continued Patel, Washington continues to dialogue with the Government of Benjamin Netanyahu to determine whether the “corrective measures” were sufficient and to review them before “a final decision”.

According to the North American press, the Biden Administration is considering the possibility of sanctioning the Netzach Yehuda battalion, made up of ultra-Orthodox soldiers, for alleged human rights violations in the West Bank.

Citing internal sources, CNN International revealed this Monday that it is not unanimous within the State Department that Israel is using weapons supplied by the United States in accordance with international and North American law.

Since October 7 alone, almost 500 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and more than 4,800 have been injured, the vast majority under fire from the Israeli Army. In Gaza, the epicenter of the most recent crisis in the Israeli-Arab conflict, the number of Palestinians killed in the same period approaches 35 thousand.