America Imposes Harsh Sanctions On An Israeli Army Battalion For The First Time

New Al-Aqsa flood and the Rafah file presented in this episode of Samri Channel.
“The Israeli army must not be punished,” with these words, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on reports indicating that Washington might impose sanctions on the “Netzech Yehuda” battalion of the Israeli army for violating human rights in the West Bank, before the start of the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu pledged to work “by all means” against any possible sanctions targeting Israeli soldiers. American media reports reported that the State Department was preparing to impose sanctions on the “Netzah Yehuda” Battalion of the Israeli army due to human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

What violations did this battalion commit that brought it into the crosshairs of American sanctions? The Times of Israel says that members of this battalion “participated in many controversial incidents of violence, and were also convicted in the past of torturing and ill-treating Palestinian prisoners and detainees.”

For its part, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which in recent years investigated several incidents in which the battalion was involved, said that the conclusion it reached was that the battalion “has become a kind of independent militia that is not subject to army rules.”

The newspaper quoted a soldier from another battalion in the Israeli army that was working within the “Netzah Yehuda” battalion, that one night, soldiers affiliated with “Netzah Yehuda” asked one of the Palestinians to get out of his car, and when he did, they beat him in a “crazy” manner until he lost consciousness.

The aforementioned incident occurred in April 2022, “but this time it did not end in death,” as happened with an elderly Palestinian last month, according to the same newspaper that described the battalion as “outside the army’s control.” “Haaretz,” which titled its report on the battalion “Lies, Violence, and Extremist Right-Wing Ideology,” says that soldiers from “Netzah Yehuda” were, last month, behind the killing of Omar Abdel Majeed Asaad, a Palestinian-American who was 78 years old when he died. The latter after members of the battalion tied his hands, gagged his mouth, and forced him to lie on his stomach in the cold.

The April 2022 incident initially seemed “fairly ordinary” as soldiers said they stopped the car because they feared the driver would attempt a ramming attack. But according to eyewitnesses, there was nothing suspicious about the way the car was driving.

Moreover, half an hour after the incident, the Shin Bet Security Service, the police, and the army’s Central Command ruled out an attempt to launch an attack. The soldier from the other unit said, “There were people trying to treat the Palestinian who was in bad condition due to the beating,” and then continued, “They shouted at the Netzah Yehuda paramedic to come to help, but he refused,” claiming that the victim was a terrorist, according to the newspaper.

He added that the soldiers refused to even provide the water they requested to treat the Palestinian. “It was a crazy accident,” he said. In the midst of the war in Gaza, Netzah Yehuda forces participated in several operations in Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza. Regarding the various controversial events, the Israeli army said that it “is working and will continue to work to investigate every unusual event in a focused manner and in accordance with the law,” according to what the Times of Israel newspaper reported.

The Israeli army said that it was not aware of any US sanctions that would be imposed on its “Netzah Yehuda” battalion, explaining in a statement that if sanctions were imposed, the matter would be reviewed, according to Al Hurra’s correspondent. In the statement, the army defended this battalion, stressing that it is active in the Gaza Strip and “operates in the spirit of the Israeli army and the principles of international law.”

A Dawn report says that between 2015 and 2022, the battalion was involved in a number of serious incidents involving violations against Palestinian civilians, including shooting and killing unarmed civilians, torture, physical assault, and beatings.