Urgent.. US State Department: 5 Israeli units responsible for serious human rights violations

The US State Department said on Monday that it found five Israeli army units responsible for serious human rights violations in incidents that occurred outside the Gaza Strip before the outbreak of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas last October.

Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that four of the units effectively addressed the violations, while Israel provided additional information about the fifth unit and the United States continues talks with the government.

Patel said sales American weapons for Israeli units will not be affected, and he refrained from giving details about human rights violations, the units involved, or the corrective measures that were taken.

He added: “After a careful process, we concluded that 5 Israeli units are responsible for individual incidents.” Relating to blatant human rights violations, all of these incidents took place long before October 7, and none of them occurred in Gaza.

He continued: “Four of these units dealt with the violations effectively, and this is what we expect from partners.” As for the remaining unit, we are still conducting consultations and communications with the government of Israel.

The actions of the occupation army are subject to increasing scrutiny, as its forces killed about 34,500 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities in the Strip, many of them women and children, and the Strip was destroyed. Gaza, and severe food shortages have raised fears of famine.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had made &laquo»decisions» Regarding accusations that Israel violated a set of US laws that prohibit the provision of military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit serious human rights violations.

The Leahy Act, drafted by US Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, prohibits the provision of military assistance For individuals or security force units that commit serious human rights violations and have not been brought to justice.

An informed source told Reuters on Friday that the United States had received new information from the Israeli authorities regarding a specific unit in the Israeli army that Washington reportedly would designate In light of allegations of human rights violations in the West Bank.

He added that in light of the new information, Washington is considering whether the unit is on its way to taking corrective measures.