US response to Israeli troop violations ‘a lot of empty words’
Antony Loewenstein, author of The Palestine Laboratory, has questioned the US State Department’s response to “gross violations” of human rights committed by Israeli army units in the occupied West Bank.
Earlier, spokesman Vedant Patel said four Israeli units have “remediated these violations”. Repeatedly asked to specify what the violations were, he didn’t respond.
“I wish I knew what that word [remediated] actually meant in this context because they also said they’d continue providing weapons to those units, which pretty much speaks for itself,” Loewenstein told Al Jazeera.
Israeli forces guilty of abuses against Palestinians are rarely held to account, he noted.
“Even when American citizens are killed, American journalists, and others, America seems to do very little at best. There’s been an explosion of settler and Israeli soldier violence in the occupied West Bank towards Palestinians, so it feels like a lot of empty words,” said Loewenstein.
Notorious Israeli battalion may still get US military aid
The US is considering sanctioning the Netzah Yehuda battalion, the ultra-Orthodox Israeli army unit accused of rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
One of the incidents believed to be part of the charges against the unit is that its forces killed a 78-year-old Palestinian American dual citizen in 2022. They bound him, gagged him and left him to die in sub-freezing temperatures.
Four other battalions the US State Department also found responsible for “gross violations” have not been named. But the State Department says those units have “remediated” – meaning they’re now fine and will continue to receive American military aid.
The Netzah Yehuda last week wasn’t going to receive military assistance. Now the US State Department has given Israel more time to look into the allegations against it because of a massive backlash.
US response to Israeli troop violations – continue military aid
Despite the US State Department determining five Israeli military battalions committed “gross violations” of Palestinian human rights, it will continue funding at least four of them after they showed unspecified steps towards “remediation”.
US official challenged on Israeli army abuses
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel has faced repeated questions from journalists asking for details on the department’s own report that concluded five Israeli army units had committed human rights violations against Palestinians but will nevertheless remain eligible for US aid and military assistance.
