US postpones decision on aid to Israeli army battalion accused of abuses against Palestinians
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that an Israeli army battalion committed grave human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza. But he said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson that he is postponing a decision on blocking aid to the unit to give Israel more time to right the wrongdoing.
The undated letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, defers a decision on whether to withhold U.S. assistance to an Israeli military unit for the first time over its treatment of Palestinians and its compliance with international and human rights law. Israeli leaders, anticipating the U.S. decision this week, have angrily protested any such aid restrictions.
News of the delay comes with Blinken once again headed to Israel. An Israeli foreign ministry official told The Associated Press that Blinken was visiting on Tuesday, the latest of multiple trips he and other top U.S. officials have made since the war in Gaza began.
Blinken stressed in his letter that overall U.S. military support for Israel’s defense against Hamas and other threats would not be affected by the State Department’s eventual decision on the one unit. Johnson was instrumental this week in muscling through White House-backed legislation providing $26 billion in additional funds for Israel’s defense and for relief of the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-us-military-aid-west-bank-abuses-515acf20ddfffd1b2838bcf55c9a7c73
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