An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.
The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.
The investigation – a rare occurrence on the part of the US with regard to Israel – could result in the unit being penalised under a landmark piece of legislation known as the Leahy law, which prohibits the state and defence departments from rendering assistance to foreign security force units facing credible accusations of human rights abuses.
Nine members of Force 100, a unit inside the Israeli Defence Forces, are the subject of criminal investigation over allegations that they sexually assaulted a prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention camp in the Negev desert, which human rights groups have dubbed “the Israeli Guantanamo”.
Israeli authorities have begun to wind down the centre, which was established as a holding centre and interrogation site for Palestinians suspected of involvement in last October’s attack on Israel by Hamas, in which about 1,200 people were murdered and another 250 were taken hostage.
The facility is said to have been the site of widespread physical and mental abuse, according to whistleblowers, with detainees kept shackled to hospital beds, blindfolded and forced to wear nappies. Electric shock treatment and force-feedings have also been reported, and detainees have allegedly been forced to stand for hours or sit on their knees.
In one case, whistleblowers reported one man having a limb amputated due to injuries caused by the persistent wearing of handcuffs.
Up to 35 inmates are believed to have died in the facility or at hospitals nearby. About 4,000 prisoners were said to have passed through the facility by last May, the New York Times reported.
Axios, citing two Israeli officials, said the US embassy in Jerusalem had submitted a list of questions to Israel’s foreign ministry regarding several incidents involving violations allegedly carried out by Force 100 members.
The embassy told the Israelis that the questions were part of a review under the auspices of the Leahy law.
“It is part of a consultation process we started with the Israelis about this unit as part of our Leahy law agreement,” Axios quoted a US official as saying.
Named after the former Democratic senator for Vermont, Patrick Leahy, the legislation was passed in 1997 and originally designed to apply only to assistance in combating narcotics. But it was later expanded.
The Guardian reported this year that US officials had taken steps to circumvent the law with regards to Israel to prevent the imposition of sanctions on a close ally.
The state department did not respond to a request for comment.
Reports of the investigation come after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, warned in a joint letter last week that Israel could face consequences – including the potential blocking of future weapons transfers – if it did not take urgent steps to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza within the next month.
