The battalion allegedly committed human rights violations before it was withdrawn from the West Bank in December 2022.
In the same period, Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency says at least 19 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank.
The Israeli government has responded with indignation after a report that the United States plans to sanction a West Bank unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The decision is based on incidents that all took place in the West Bank and occurred before the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, the report said.
The unit was withdrawn from the West Bank in 2022.
“Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on X.
“The ‘Netzah Yehuda’ battalion is an inseparable part of the Israel Defense Forces,” he wrote on X.
Israeli forces kill 3 in West Bank hospital raid: DW’s Tania Krämer To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Retaliation for a rumored decision to sanction the military unit Netzah Yehuda has come from prominent Israeli officials.
It is alleged that the battalion violated human rights prior to its withdrawal from the West Bank in December 2022.
Concurrently, the Palestinian leadership claims that endorsing US aid to Israel amounts to an act of aggression directed towards its citizens.
Here are the most recent updates as of Sunday, April 21, from the Middle East.
Following Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel from its own territory last weekend, the country’s military was praised by the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, for their “success.”.
The 85-year-old commander urged the military to “ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy’s tactics” on Sunday. “.
From Saturday to Sunday of last week, Iran launched over 300 missiles, drones, and rockets towards Israel; however, Israel and its allies intercepted nearly all of them. It was a form of reprisal for an airstrike that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Not how many missiles were launched or how many got past Israel’s defenses, according to Khameini, was the important thing: Iran had demonstrated its ability to attack Israel.
The most important thing, according to Khamenei, is that Iran showed its willpower during the operation, not how many missiles were launched or how many of them found their target.
Iranian media has played down early Friday reports of explosions near Isfahan. US government officials were quoted by US media at the time as saying that Israel had informed Washington that it would launch a military incursion.
Israeli strikes on Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday.
The first strike claimed the lives of a man, his wife, and their 3-year-old child, according to Kuwaiti Hospital. The baby was saved by the doctors, according to the hospital, which also stated that the woman was pregnant.
News organizations reported that the second strike killed two women and seventeen children, all members of the same extended family, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency.
Since October 7, over 34,000 people have died in Gaya.
Following Hamas’s orchestrated terror attack on October 7, which resulted in approximately 1,200 fatalities and 250 hostages, Israeli officials pledged to eradicate the organization.
A Palestinian enclave hospital reports that at least 13 people were killed in Israeli attacks that occurred overnight in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, including nine children.
Nearly all of the 2 million people living in the territory have fled to Rafah in fear of fighting elsewhere, and Israel has attacked the area virtually every day with jets.
A man, his wife, and their 3-year-old child were all killed in one strike, according to the Kuwaiti Hospital. According to the hospital, which was cited by the AP news agency, the woman was pregnant and the baby was saved.
Records from the hospital indicate that in a second attack, eight women and two children—all members of the same family—were killed.
Nine individuals, including six children, were killed by an airstrike in Rafah the night before, according to the civil defense agency run by Hamas.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, fighting has resulted in at least 34,049 Palestinian deaths and 76,901 injuries since the Hamas terror attacks on October 7. The ministry, which is also under Hamas control, asserts that at least two-thirds of the dead were women or children even though it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Approximately 1,200 people, primarily civilians, were killed and 250 hostages were taken hostage in southern Israel by Hamas and other militants, sparking the start of the war.
The US, EU, and Israel all list Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Concerns about a ground operation are raised by Israeli airstrikes on Rafah.
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According to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces on Sunday in the occupied West Bank.
The report was verified by the Israeli army, which stated that the two were “neutralized” for attacking soldiers.
Following reports from Palestinian authorities that Israeli forces had raided the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, killing about fourteen people, the incident occurred.
Since October 7, at least 483 Palestinians have been killed in the region by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah.
At least 19 Israelis have died as a result of Palestinian attacks in the West Bank during the same time period, according to Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet.
Following a report that the US intends to sanction an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit in the West Bank, the Israeli government reacted with outrage.
Members of the Netzah Yehuda unit, which is charged with violating human rights, would not be permitted to receive US military support or training under the rumored plan.
According to information obtained from three US government sources, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would likely announce the sanctions within a few days, according to a report published by Axios.
The report stated that the decision was made based on events that all happened in the West Bank and before the terror attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7. In 2022, the unit was taken out of the West Bank.
It allegedly follows an evaluation of multiple IDF and police units suspected of violating human rights. Axios stated that once the other units corrected their behavior, they would not face any sanctions.
The choice would be in accordance with the 1997 “Leahy Law,” which forbids defense training programs and foreign aid for military and security forces that are believable suspects in human rights abuses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on X that “sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces.”.
He said that his government would use every resource at its disposal to thwart such initiatives.
“It is the height of absurdity and a moral low to intend to impose sanctions on an IDF unit at a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror,” wrote Netanyahu.
The imposition of the sanctions, according to Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, would send the wrong message “to our common enemies” and create a risky precedent.
On X, he wrote, “The Israel Defense Forces are incomplete without the ‘Netzah Yehuda’ battalion.”. It must operate in strict accordance with international law and is governed by military law. “.”.
DW’s Tania Krämer reports that three people were killed by Israeli forces during a raid on a hospital in the West Bank.
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