US says five Israeli units committed abuse before Hamas attack

The United States announced that five Israeli military units had committed grave human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank before Hamas launched its assault in the month of October, said the State Department on Monday (Apr 29).

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said that four out of these five units had taken remedial measures, however, consultations were underway over the fifth unit with the Israeli government.

"After a careful process, we found five Israeli units responsible for individual incidents of gross violations of human rights," Patel said.

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Patel said that the violations took place before the Oct 7 Hamas assault and that it was not in the Gaza Strip.

He did not identify the units or specify the measures the Israeli government had taken against them.

As per the news agency AFP, press reports identified a battalion called the Netzah Yehuda comprised mainly of ultra-Orthodox Jews, as the one that was accused of abuses.

US law prohibits the government from funding or arming foreign security forces that have credible allegations of human rights abuses against them.

Blinken 'hopeful' Hamas will accept Gaza deal

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that he was hopeful Palestinian militant group Hamas would accept an "extraordinarily generous" offer to end the Israeli offensive in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages.

"Hamas has before it a proposal that is extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel," Blinken said in Riyadh at the World Economic Forum.

"In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas," he said.

"They have to decide -- and they have to decide quickly," Blinken said. "I'm hopeful that they will make the right decision."

"We can have a fundamental change in the dynamic" in more than half a year of bloodshed, Blinken said.

(With inputs from agencies)