Israeli use of Palestinians as human shields

From Palepedia
Israeli soldiers using children as human shields
13-year-old Mohammed Badwan chained by Israeli soldiers to the hood of an IDF vehicle in 2004 to discourage children from casting stones on the armored truck.

The Israeli use of Palestinians as human shields, including non-combatant Palestinian children,[1] has been reported and confirmed by various sources on numerous occasions, in stark contrast to Israel's unsubstantiated claims of Hamas use of human shields. The specific and well-documented use of detained Palestinian civilians to test for booby traps is such a commonplace practice in the occupied Palestinian territories that the IDF even refers to it internally as "the mosquito protocol".[1]

Documented Incidents[edit | edit source]

  • January 15, 2009: IDF soldiers forced an 11-year-old Palestinian boy to walk in front of the soldiers as they were taking fire during Israel's 2008-2009 war on Gaza, also known as Operation Cast Lead.[2]

Media Coverage[edit | edit source]

  • The Daily Mail ran a front-page story about Israel chaining Mohammed Badwan to their armored jeep as a literal human shield for its April 23, 2004 issue.
  • The Guardian published an article in August 2024 exploring how the IDF used Palestinian prisoners to scope out possibly booby-trapped buildings and tunnels, quoting the executive director of Breaking the Silence (an organization formed of IDF veterans documenting military abuses) as saying "The practice was so widespread across different units fighting in Gaza that it could in effect be considered a 'protocol' [of the IDF]".[3]
  • Another Guardian article published in October of 2024 explored this human shields policy in greater depth, documenting the kidnapping of Palestinian civilians from humanitarian corridors established during the 2023-2024 Israel war on Gaza and relocating them to different sections of the Gaza Strip to perform these duties.[4]
  • The New York Times published a small exposé titled "How Israel's Army Uses Palestinians as Human Shields in Gaza" on October 14, 2024,[5] covering the Israeli army's practice of this custom during the 2023 Israel war on Gaza.
  • CNN published an account by a former IDF soldier and five Palestinians who were previously detainees of Israel that corroborated the other media coverage of the Israeli use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. In this particular account, incidents of this sort were described as being extremely commonplace and occurring across the breadth and depth of the Gaza Strip, from northern Gaza to Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah. The report documented the use of Palestinian children at least as young as 16 and quoted senior IDF commanders ordering their units to "[not] think about international law." According to the interviewed IDF soldier, the practice was regularly used in the IDF to the point where it was known as "the mosquito protocol".[1]
  • The same month, the Washington Post also published an account of Israeli forces using captured Palestinian civilians to "carry out life-threatening tasks" under threat of having their families killed. According to the accounts – corroborated by other witnesses, an American physician, and medical records – the Palestinians, who included a teenage child, were handcuffed and blindfolded then forced to enter and investigate buildings suspected of being booby-trapped while dressed in (Israeli) military uniforms to try and flush out any Palestinian militants encamped or lying in wait. After fifteen days of being used as a human shield, one Palestinian was allowed to leave then shot in the back as he was walking away.[6]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mick Krever; Jeremy Diamond; Abeer Salman (October 24, 2024). "The Israeli military has used Palestinians as human shields in Gaza, soldier and former detainees say". CNN. Archived from the original on October 24, 2024.
  2. ↑ Matti Friedman (2009-03-23). "Israeli soldiers' T-shirts depict shooting Arabs". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved 19 November 2023. U.N. human rights experts said Monday that Israeli soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian as a human shield during the Gaza offensive. The military ordered the boy on Jan. 15 to walk in front of soldiers being fired on in a Gaza neighborhood and enter buildings before them, said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. secretary-general's envoy for protecting children in armed conflict.
  3. ↑ Emma Graham-Harrison (August 14, 2024). "Israeli forces in Gaza 'use civilians as human shields' against possible booby-traps". Jerusalem: The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024.
  4. ↑ Malak A Tantesh; Julian Borger; Sufian Taha (October 21, 2024). "Palestinians describe being used as 'human shields' by Israeli troops in Gaza". Gaza: The Guardian. Archived from the original on October 21, 2024.
  5. ↑ Natan Odenheimer; Bilal Shbair; Patrick Kingsley (October 14, 2024). "How Israel's Army Uses Palestinians as Human Shields in Gaza". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
  6. ↑ Louisa Loveluck; Hajar Harb; John Hudson (November 3, 2024). "Israeli forces used civilians as human shields in Gaza, Palestinians and soldiers say". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 4, 2024.
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