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Israeli Army Uses Detained Palestinians as Human Shields in Life-Threatening Gaza Missions

© AP Photo / Abdel Kareem HanaPalestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024
Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.10.2024
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As Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza, it has repeatedly carried out deadly strikes on medical facilities and refugee camps, leading to a staggering civilian death toll, with reports of thousands of Palestinians being held in custody indefinitely in inhumane conditions
Israeli soldiers and intelligence agents have been using Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a human shield during their war on Hamas that broke out last October, an investigation by The New York Times has revealed.
Captured Gazans have been forced to carry out life-threatening reconnaissance missions to avoid putting Israeli soldiers at risk, the publication cited Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and former Palestinian detainees as saying. At least 11 squads in five cities in Gaza have reportedly resorted to this illegal practice.

The use of civilians and other protected persons as human shields to make military sites immune from enemy attacks or to prevent reprisals during an offensive is prohibited by Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions. in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the use of human shields during an international armed conflict is classified as a war crime.

Palestinian detainees have been forced to:
Walk handcuffed across the rubble in Gaza searching for explosives and booby traps set by Hamas;
Scout and film inside Hamas’ underground tunnel networks in search of remaining fighters;
Enter buildings rigged with mines to find hidden explosives;
Pick up or move objects such as generators and water tanks that might conceal tunnel entrances or rigged devices;
Interviewed Israeli soldiers described the practice of using Palestinians as human shields as routine, carried out with “logistical support and the knowledge of superiors on the battlefield,” the NYT stated. In response to the report, the Israeli military claimed in a statement that its “directives and guidelines strictly prohibit the use of detained Gaza civilians for military operations.”
The Israeli army has repeatedly used people as human shields, with numerous instances of this behaviour documented throughout the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. This is an expansion of a long-standing strategy employed by the Israeli army during times of escalation or during its frequent incursions into the West Bank,” the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor organization wrote in its July report.
Another report, “Israeli Matrix of Control: Use of Palestinian civilians as human shields,” similarly documented cases of Palestinian civilians being used as human shields by Israeli military forces during the 50-day conflict in the Gaza Strip in 2014.
As at least 42,289 people have been killed and 98,684 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the enclave’s health authorities.
This undated photo from Winter 2023 provided by Breaking The Silence, a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers, shows Palestinian prisoners captured in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces at a detention facility on the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. (Breaking The Silence via AP) - Sputnik International, 1920, 15.10.2024
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