U.S. reviewing whether to sanction IDF unit accused of human rights abuses [Video]

The Biden administration is reviewing whether to restrict aid to an Israeli military battalion after determining that it was one of three battalions credibly implicated in gross human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank prior to Hamas‘ Oct. 7 attack, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.

Two of those Israel Defense Forces units will continue to receive U.S. military assistance after accountability measures by the Israeli government, but whether the third IDF unit will face restrictions of U.S. military aid is still under review, according to the letter.

Israeli officials have been pressing Washington in public and private not to impose the restrictions on the unit, fearing the unprecedented move would cast a shadow over its military as a whole. The U.S. has issued growing criticism of its ally’s conduct in the Gaza Strip, while protests have mounted across American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.

A 1997 act known as the Leahy Law restricts U.S. assistance to any …