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.
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.