Israel strongly rejects the possibility of US sanctions on the IDF 'Netzach Yehuda' Battalion for “human rights violations” in the West Bank. The prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and also the minister Benny Gantzwent on the attack: the “height of absurdity”, reacts the prime minister by evoking an opposition “with all the means” at the government's disposal. If there is relative calm with Iran, the raids on Gaza and military operations in the West Bank as Israel prepares to celebrate the Jewish Passover which begins tomorrow evening and which sees security measures strengthened throughout Israel, including Jerusalem, authorities report 22 deaths, including 18 minors an Israeli attack in Rafah, while the Palestinian agency Wafa reported 14 deaths near Tulkarem in clashes between armed men and the army.
But Passover will not stop Israel's action. «In the coming days we will increase military and political pressure on Hamas because this is the only way to free our hostages and achieve victory,” Netanyahu announces in a pre-Easter video message shared online. But it is the threat of sanctions on the military unit that alarms the Israeli war cabinet: it would be the first time and the restrictive measures would prohibit the battalion and its members from receiving any type of US military assistance or training. The Battalion in question (97th) was founded in 1999 and gradually grew to around a thousand soldiers, almost all of whom were 'haredim' religious. It is now employed in the war in Gaza. “At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to sanction an IDF unit is the height of absurdity and a low moral standard,” Netanyahu fumes.
He proposes to talk about it with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Benny Gantz, centrist leader on excellent relations with the US, who speaks of “a dangerous precedent that also sends the wrong message to our common enemies in times of war”. The army for its part limited itself to observing that “if a decision to this effect is taken, it will be examined”. Even though the operation in Rafah has not yet officially started, it is the second day of heavy raids. Today's incident, according to the Guardian which cites health officials operating in the Strip, took place in two stages, killing first “a couple and their child” and then an entire family. The toll speaks of 22 people in total, of which 18 minors In the West Bank, Wafa reported that 14 Palestinians were killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp. armed men, 15 wanted Palestinians arrested and dozens of explosives destroyed.”
At 198/day of war – while the deaths in Gaza are over 34 thousand in Gaza – Hamas warned that green light for US military aid to Israel is “green light for aggression” in the Strip, “a license and a green light for the extremist Zionist government to continue the brutal aggression against our people.” Meanwhile, new details and confirmations on Israel's attack on Iran arrive from satellite images. Iran International shows photographs that appear to confirm the attack on the radar of the defense complex of the Natanz nuclear plant, about 120 kilometers from Isfahan. According to what was revealed by the New York Times, the attack was carried out using missiles launched remotely from fighter planes and the Israeli planes did not enter Iranian airspace. But Iran continues to downplay it and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reiterated that Tehran showed its power during the attack on Israel, while inviting the armed forces to “ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy's tactics” .