US considers first-ever sanctions on Israeli military unit

Israeli cabinet member Beni Gantz urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday to reconsider imposing sanctions on the Israeli battalion Necach Judah for human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, as reported by the Times of Israel.

Imposing restrictions on the battalion, seen as a group of orthodox Judaism followers, would jeopardize Israel's international standing in its battle against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Gantz admitted during his conversation with Blinken.

The Israeli politician further mentioned that "all units of the Israel Defense Forces abide by a code of conduct and comply with international legal standards."

The American news website Axios disclosed on Saturday plans to sanction the battalion in response to the accusations of crimes it allegedly committed in the West Bank before the Hamas assault on Israel on 7 October 2023.

This would mark the first time the US has contemplated imposing restrictions on an Israeli military unit. The battalion might see a halt in all military assistance from the US.

The accusations against the Israeli battalion include the murder in 2022 of 80-year-old Palestinian Omar Assad, who also had US citizenship.

Following the so-called Six-Day War in 1967, Israel took control of the Golan Heights, previously Syrian territory; the West Bank from Jordan; parts of Jerusalem; the Gaza Strip; and the Sinai Peninsula, which was returned to Egypt in 1979 following the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

An independent Palestine, as envisaged by the Palestinians and supported by part of the international community, would comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.