US implicates 5 Israeli units in rights violations before Gaza war, no restrictions on assistance

The United States found five units of Israel's security forces responsible for gross violations of human rights, the first time Washington has reached such a conclusion about Israeli forces, the State Department said on Monday, though it has not barred any of the units from receiving U.S. military assistance.

Israel has conducted "remediation" in the cases of four of the units in compliance with U.S. law prohibiting military assistance to security force units that commit such abuses and have not been brought to justice, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

The incidents in question took place outside of Gaza before conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas in October, Patel said.

Human rights groups say they have reported incidents involving Israeli units including extrajudicial killings, torture and physical abuse to the State Department, most of them committed against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Patel declined to offer specifics on the violations U.S. officials looked at, which