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Israeli leaders are reacting angrily to reports that an Israeli army battalion could be sanctioned under US human rights legislation, after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a decision on the move would be made “soon”.
The unit in question is the Netzah Yehuda battalion, established in 1999 to accommodate ultra Orthodox Jews – many of whom resist Israel’s compulsory military service.
Critics of US policy regarding its military support to Israel – normally almost $4 billion per year and now boosted by $26 billion this year – say sanctions on the unit of 1,000 men would mostly be symbolic.
Who are the Netzah Yehuda battalion?
The unit is well-known to rights groups, and was identified by the US State Department – which evaluates abuses by military units of allied countries – as having allegedly murdered civilians.
The unit made headlines in 2022 when its members were accused of killing a 78-year-old dual US-Palestinian citizen, but rights organisations have flagged alleged abuses by the soldiers long before then.
Omar Assad was found dead on an abandoned building site having been detained by the unit. A Palestinian autopsy later found he had suffered a stress-induced heart attack, after being handcuffed, gagged, threatened and manhandled by the troops.
Detractors of the unit point to its composition, with many recruits belonging to the so-called Hilltop Youth, an extremist settler organisation with a history of attacking Palestinian shepherds and establishing illegal settlements.
Attempting to placate the US, Israel withdrew Netzah Yehuda from the West Bank in 2022 and moved it to the Golan Heights.
Benny Gantz, a minister in the Israeli war cabinet, spoke to Mr Blinken on Sunday and requested that he “reconsider the prospective decision”.
The Israeli military said the Netzah Yehuda battalion is an active combat unit that operates according to the principles of international law. The US State Department clearly disputes this – at least for now – and could use existing legislation to halt support for the battalion.
What is the Leahy Amendment and will it be used against Israel?
The possible sanctioning of the unit is in line with US legislation introduced in 1997, known as the Leahy Law, named after human rights campaigner and Senator Patrick Leahy.
The law was enacted amid US military support for Columbia in its war against Marxist rebel group FARC, after several Colombian army and police units were accused by rights groups of severe human rights violations.
The US did not want to restrict arms supplies to its Columbian ally wholesale – as it did briefly to allies Pakistan and El Salvador in the 1960s and 1980s respectively – so the law emerged as a compromise to halt support to individual units. Since its passing, it’s been applied to security forces in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Mexico, but not Israel.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The biog
Age: 23
Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering
Favourite hobby: playing the piano
Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"
Family: Married and with a daughter
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The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
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Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Scoreline
Swansea 2
Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'
Man City 3
Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
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The biog
Name: Fareed Lafta
Age: 40
From: Baghdad, Iraq
Mission: Promote world peace
Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi
Role models: His parents
Read more about the coronavirus
'Project Power'
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback
Director: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
Rating: 3.5/5
'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
