Part of the military aid package will go to an Israeli army unit accused of serious abuses of Palestinian rights in the occupied West Bank.
The United States will send an additional $3.5 billion to Israel to spend on American-made weapons and military equipment, the State Department said, as the deadly war in Gaza continues into its 10th month and amid claims of widespread Israeli military abuses in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A State Department spokesman said Friday that the department had notified Congress on Thursday that the Biden administration intended to release billions of dollars in foreign military funding to Israel.
American media outlets were the first to report the release of the funds, which come from a $14.5 billion supplemental funding bill for Israel passed by Congress in April. The supplemental budget is on top of the more than $3 billion in annual US military aid to Israel.
Some of the new financial aid will go to an Israeli military unit accused of carrying out human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The State Department said it had decided not to sanction the unit – which would have been the first such blockage of aid to the Israeli military – and said it was pleased with Israeli efforts to address “violations committed by this unit,” which have been “effectively remedied.”
Although the US has not publicly revealed the name of the unit, it is believed to be Israel's Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has historically been based in the occupied West Bank.
The battalion and some of its members have been linked to abuses against Palestinian civilians, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man after his arrest by the unit in 2022.
The green light for Netzah Yehuda comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined in a finding made public in April that an Israeli army battalion committed serious human rights abuses against Palestinians, triggering an investigation under US legislation related to US military aid to foreign forces, known as the Leahy Law.
Facing protests from Republican lawmakers over findings of abuses linked to the battalion, Blinken said he would allow aid to continue to the unit to give Israel time to address irregularities.
News of Blinken's change of stance comes as criticism of Israel is mounting amid the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in its war on Gaza.
The Israeli military has been accused of numerous human rights violations against Palestinians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including the indiscriminate killing of civilians in attacks on homes, hospitals and school shelters, the torture of prisoners and the deprivation of water, food and medical supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.
More recently, 10 Israeli soldiers were charged with the brutal gang rape of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli prison camp, which was caught on video.
