Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli military units for alleged rights violations in West Bank, after media reports said Washington was planning such a step, according to Reuters.

Axios news site on Saturday reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has operated in the occupied West Bank, though the Israeli military said it was not aware of any such measures.

“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) — I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a centrist former armed forces chief, said in a statement on Sunday that he spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and asked him to reconsider the matter. However, The US statements did not mention sanctions.

Gantz said any such sanctions would be a mistake because they would harm Israel’s legitimacy during a time of war and claimed they were unjustified because Israel has an independent justice system and a military that keeps international law.