What is Israeli battalion Netzah Yehuda that US may sanction?

The US is contemplating sanctions against the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the Israel military, a day after 14 Palestinians were killed in incursions across the occupied West Bank, according to media reports.

The battalion faces allegations of human rights violations against Palestinians, particularly in the occupied West Bank region.

Numerous individuals belonging to extreme religious-nationalist settler groups like Hilltop Youth, who have gained notoriety for their atrocities against Palestinians, have joined the battalion.

ProPublica news site reports that a US State Department panel, tasked with probing alleged human rights violations, had recommended disqualifying several Israeli military and police units operating in the West Bank from receiving US aid.

Here's a look at the Israeli military unit:

What is Netzah Yehuda battalion?

The Netzah Yehuda battalion was set up in 1999 to accommodate the religious beliefs of ultra-Orthodox Jews and other religious nationalist recruits in the army.

Israeli government created the battalion as a pathway for these groups to serve in the military by allowing them to maintain their religious practices.

What is the unit accused of?

The US called for a criminal investigation after Netzah Yehuda soldiers were accused of being involved in the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American, Omar Assad, who died of a heart attack in 2022 after he was detained and was later found abandoned at a building site.

An autopsy found Assad died from a stress-induced heart attack brought on by being manhandled.

The case attracted attention because of his dual nationality, his age, and a demand by the US State Department for an investigation into his death.

The Israeli military acknowledged that soldiers gagged him with a strip of cloth and cuffed his hands with a zip tie.

However Israeli military prosecutors decided against pursuing criminal charges.

There have been several other incidents in recent years, some captured on video, in which Netzah Yehuda soldiers were accused of, or charged with, abusing Palestinian detainees.

The battalion primarily operated in the occupied West Bank before it was moved out of the territory in late 2022 after US criticism. The unit has recently been part of the invasion and Israeli carnage in besieged Gaza.

What would the US sanctions mean?

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he has made "determinations" regarding accusations that Israel violated a set of US laws that prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights.

The Leahy Laws, authoured by then-Senator Patrick Leahy in the late 1990s, prohibit providing military assistance to individuals or security force units that commit gross violations of human rights and have not been brought to justice.

US news site Axios reports that Blinken is likely to make an announcement "very soon".

How is Israel reacting?

Israeli leaders reacted angrily to reports of the sanctions.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called the possibility of sanctions on the unit "the peak of absurdity and a moral low" at a time when Israeli forces are fighting a war in Gaza. He said that his government would "act by all means" against any such move.

Benny Gantz, a minister in the country's war cabinet, spoke to Blinken on Sunday and requested that he "reconsider the prospective decision".

The Israeli military claimed that the Netzah Yehuda Battalion operates according to the principles of international law.