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WASHINGTON, April 26 (KUNA) -- The Biden administration has reportedly determined that three Israeli military battalions committed "gross human rights violations" against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
Despite the allegations, the Israeli military will remain eligible for US military aid regardless because of steps Israel says it's taking to address the problem, ABC News reported on Friday.
The allegations involving each of the units occurred before the October 7 war began when Hamas attacked Israel. None of the cases involves operations against Hamas in Gaza or against Iran or its proxies.
Israeli officials have been pressing Washington in public and private not to impose restrictions on the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank.
The Biden administration is reviewing whether to restrict aid to an Israeli military battalion after determining that it was one of three battalions credibly implicated in gross human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank prior to Hamas' October 7 attack, NBC News reported, citing a letter leaked from the Dept. of State (DoS).
Two of those Israel Defense Forces units will continue to receive U.S. military assistance after accountability measures by the Israeli government, but whether the third IDF unit will face restrictions of US military aid is still under review, according to the letter.
Israeli officials have been pressing Washington in public and private not to impose the restrictions on the unit, fearing the unprecedented move would cast a shadow over its military as a whole.
The US has issued growing criticism of its ally's conduct in the Gaza Strip, while protests have mounted across American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.
A 1997 act known as the Leahy Law restricts US assistance to any security force unit of a foreign country if the unit is found to have committed a "Gross Violation of Human Rights," but an exception can be made if the secretary of state determines effective steps are being taken to bring those in the unit responsible to justice.
It is named after its primary sponsor, former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who spent nearly half a century in the Senate.
The Leahy Law determinations, which have not yet been made public, were discussed in the letter obtained by NBC News from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ahead of the vote on a supplemental aid bill to Israel.
A US official confirmed to NBC News that the unit is Netzah Yehuda, a West Bank battalion comprised of ultra-orthodox Israeli soldiers, which has been under review by the State Department since 2022.
But in the undated letter, which was obtained and authenticated by CBS News, Blinken assures Johnson that the broader determinations he has made in accordance with the Leahy Law "will not delay the delivery of any US assistance," and Israel would "receive the full amount appropriated by Congress."
According to a source with knowledge of the letter, Johnson had demanded assurance from Blinken before he would put a long-delayed foreign aid package to a vote on the House floor. Blinken's letter was delivered to Johnson last Saturday, the day the vote was to take place.
On his part, Secretary Blinken said the Leahy Law -- is "a very important law, and it's one that we apply across the board."
"And when we're doing these investigations, these inquiries, it's something that takes time, that has to be done very carefully both in collecting the facts and analyzing them - and that's exactly what we've done.
"And I think it's fair to say that you'll see results very soon. I've made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead," he added. (end)
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