US postpones decision on aid to Israeli army battalion accused of abuses against Palestinians

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed grave human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza. But he says the U.S. will postpone a decision on blocking aid to the battalion to give Israel more time to right the wrongdoing. The news comes in a letter from Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. At stake is whether the U.S. will withhold assistance to an Israeli military unit for the first time. Israeli leaders had protested angrily this week in anticipation of a U.S. decision.