Europe EditionIsraeli use of human shields in Gaza was systematic, soldiers and former detainees tell the AP
- Several Palestinians and former Israeli soldiers told the Associated Press that Israeli troops systematically compelled Palestinians to accompany them during operations in Gaza and the West Bank from late 2023 through mid-2024 and beyond, using them to provide protection or clear buildings in dangerous situations.
- The use of human shields by Israeli forces began shortly after the conflict started in early October 2023 with Hamas’s attack on Israel, and multiple accounts indicate that such orders frequently originated from higher-ranking officials, despite the Israeli military’s official ban on this practice.
- Multiple testimonies describe Palestinians being forced into buildings, tunnels, and even hospitals to search for tunnels or explosives while unbound and under threat of death, and some soldiers reported their units tried to refuse but were compelled to comply.
- Masoud Abu Saeed recounted being forced to serve as a human shield for a period of two weeks in March 2024 in Khan Younis, while an Israeli officer revealed that by mid-2024, nearly every infantry unit had employed Palestinians to assist in clearing houses under military operations.
- Rights groups and whistleblower group Breaking the Silence call the widespread use a systemic failure and moral collapse, while international law prohibits it and the Israeli military said it is investigating several cases amid ongoing concerns.
105 Articles
105 Articles
Systematic abuse: Israeli soldiers and officers detail widespread use of Palestinians as human shields in Gaza
Multiple Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians have confirmed to the Associated Press that the Israeli military has routinely used Palestinians as human shields during the war on Gaza, despite international bans and longstanding denials from the IDF.
The Abu Jarad family was left homeless again. For the tenth time during the 19-month Israeli military campaign in Gaza, they were forced to flee - and this latest displacement was the most painful so far, AP reports.
Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon called for action at a meeting of a group of supporters of the realization of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine in Madrid, because in her opinion, words do not bring peace in Gaza. "If we stick to words, in a year there will be no more Palestinians left alive in Gaza," she said, among other things. Authorities in Gaza have reported at least 38 deaths in Israeli airstrikes on th…
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