United States is likely to impose sanctions on a unit of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for allegedly violating human rights of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, the Axio news site reported on Saturday. This will be the first action that Washington has ever taken against IDF's unit. Israel's Netzah Yehuda battalion has been entangled in the previous rows in connection with its right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, included the 2022 death of 78 years old Palestinian named Omar As'ad.
He died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and was abandoned in near-freezing conditions by the soldiers of the battalion, the Times of Israel reported.
The expected US sanctions did not go well with the Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on his official X handle stated that such actions were the "height of absurdity and a moral low".
"Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defence Forces! In recent weeks, I have been working against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials," he posted on X.
"At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves," he said.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's National Security Minister, stated that imposing sanctions "on the soldiers of Netzah Yehuda was a red line". Gvir called the Axios report "grave" and claimed that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will "not submit to American dictates."
He stated that if Israel's defense minister does not take actions to assist the battalion, he will request that it be integrated into the country's border police.