People walk with salvaged items past destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Mondayu — AFP JERUSALEM, Apr 22 (AP/BBC): Israeli leaders on Sunday harshly criticized an expected decision by the U.S. to impose sanctions on a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israeli military.
The decision, expected as soon as Monday, would mark the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions on a unit inside the Israeli military and would further strain relations between the two allies, which have grown increasingly tense during Israel's war in Gaza.
While U.S. officials declined to identify the unit expected to be sanctioned, Israeli leaders and local media identified it as Netzah Yehuda - an infantry battalion founded roughly a quarter of a century ago to incorporate ultra-Orthodox men into the military. Many religious men receive exemptions from what is supposed to be compulsory service.
Israeli leaders condemned the anticipated decision as unfair, especially at a time when Israel is at war, and vowed to oppose it.
"If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit in the IDF, I will fight it with all my might," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Netzah Yehuda, or Judea Forever, has historically been based in the occupied West Bank and some of its members have been linked to abuses against Palestinians. It makes up just a small part of Israel's military presence in the territory.
The unit came under heavy American criticism in 2022 after an elderly Palestinian-American man was found dead shortly after he was detained at a West Bank checkpoint.
A Palestinian autopsy said Omar Assad, 78, had underlying health conditions, but had suffered a heart attack caused by "external violence."
It said doctors found bruises on his head, redness on his wrists from being bound and bleeding in his eyelids from being tightly blindfolded. A military investigation said that Israeli soldiers assumed that Assad was asleep when they cut off the cables binding his hands. They didn't offer medical help when they saw that he was unresponsive and left the scene without checking to see if he was alive.
Assad had lived in the U.S. for four decades. After an outcry from the U.S. government, the Israeli military said the incident "was a grave and unfortunate event, resulting from moral failure and poor decision-making on the part of the soldiers." It said one officer was reprimanded and two other officers reassigned to non-commanding roles, over the incident.
Israel military intel chief
quits over Oct 07 attack
The Israeli military's intelligence chief has resigned, saying he took responsibility for the failures before Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Major General Aharon Haliva would retire once his successor was selected.
He acknowledged in a letter that his intelligence directorate "did not live up to the task we were entrusted with".
He is the first senior figure to step down over the attack, which were the deadliest in Israel's history.
Israeli military and intelligence officials missed or ignored multiple warnings before hundreds of Hamas gunmen breached the Gaza border fence that day and attacked nearby Israeli communities, military bases and a music festival.
About 1,200 Israelis and foreigners - mostly civilians - were killed and 253 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
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