Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Reuters: US military carried out a new strike targeting a ship in the Caribbean Sea
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli raids targeted a cement plant, an asphalt factory, and fuel tanks in the Ansar area in South Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: A series of violent Israeli raids targeted the outskirts of the town of Ansar
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Israeli warplanes raided the outskirts of the town of Shmestar in Bekaa, eastern Lebanon
Donald Trump will speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Thursday: White House
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli warplanes raid the town of Bnaafoul, Saida district
YAF: Israeli enemy will pay for this crime.
Yemeni Armed Forces: Son of Major General Al-Ghamari martyred alongside him in Israeli aggression.
Yemeni Armed Forces: YAF mourns martyrdom of Chief of the General Staff Mohammad Abd al-Karim al-Ghamari.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Palestinian shot and killed by IOF east of Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip

Probe confirms Israeli military using Palestinians as human shields

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 13 Aug 2024 22:44
  • 2 Shares
4 Min Read

Despite global condemnation, the Haaretz investigation found that the technique is nonetheless a recurrent element of the IOF's operating routines.

Listen
  • x
  • Probe confirms Israeli military using Palestinians as human shields
    Israeli soldiers gather in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)

A new Haaretz investigation has found that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) routinely exploit Palestinian people, including children and the elderly, as human shields, a practice that breaches international law and has long been denounced by human rights organizations. The investigation indicates that the practice is carried out with the knowledge of top military leaders, including the chief of staff.

Haaretz divulged that this approach has been used several times in different operations, with soldiers employing Palestinian people to defend themselves from resistance members. This strategy, called "human shielding," requires people to accompany military units or remain in harm's path in order to dissuade firing, essentially putting them in grave danger.

The investigation's results back up multiple claims from Palestinian eyewitnesses and human rights organizations, which have long documented the IOF's use of similar techniques. These accounts detail occasions in which Palestinians, including children and the elderly, were forced to stand near military vehicles or enter buildings or tunnels ahead of soldiers during operations in Gaza.

Despite global condemnation, the Haaretz investigation found that the technique is nonetheless a recurrent and vital element of the IOF's operating routines despite the blatant breach of international law.

Palestinian authorities and advocacy organizations have documented scores of examples in which "Israel's" military utilized Palestinians as human shields, and they consistently demanded rapid international involvement and responsibility for the Israeli military's acts.

UN special rapporteur slams Israeli use of Palestinian as human shield

Back in June, Mondoweiss published the harrowing account of Palestinians who were used as human shields by Israeli forces in Khan Younis.

Related News

Netanyahu falsely promoting Gaza deal as achievement: Israeli media

Israeli Media: Netanyahu's path mirrors South Africa's apartheid

The ordeal happened in the early hours of January 22, when the Israeli forces launched a sudden aggression on western Khan Younis, home to five shelters for displaced Palestinians.

In the same month, the United Nations Special Rapporteur in occupied Palestine, Francesca Albanese, expressed concerns regarding the Israeli abuse of Palestinians as human shields following the circulation of a video showing Israeli occupation soldiers tying a Palestinian civilian to the front of a military jeep in Jenin. 

In a post on X, Albanese slammed the impunity by which the Israeli occupation operates against the charters of international law, saying "It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head."

She further stated how "Israel's" actions may risk "the end of multilateralism, which for some influential member states no longer serves any relevant purpose."

#HumanShielding in action.
It is flabbergasting how a state born 76 years ago has managed to turn international law literally on its head.

This risks being the end of multilateralism, which for some influential member states no longer serves any relevant purpose.… https://t.co/swwjiuJYmG

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) June 22, 2024

In May, a report by the Defense for Children International (DCI) was able to prove three different instances during which Israeli occupation forces used Palestinian children as human shields in the West Bank. 

The Israeli publication Haaretz also found that the IOF uses Palestinian civilians, cuffed with cameras attached to them, to inspect tunnels that are possibly booby-trapped using the excuse that their lives are "more important" than those of Palestinians. 

Even IOF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the head of the Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman is among the senior officials aware of this atrocious technique.

One Israeli soldier said that two Palestinians were sent, one was 20 and the other was 16 and he was told, “Use them, they’re Gazans, use them as human shields.”

When Israeli soldiers protested this process and brought up the term international law, they were told that they should not take an interest in the laws of war but in the values of the Israeli military.

  • Haaretz newspaper
  • Haaretz
  • Israeli Media
  • Palestine
  • human shield
  • war on Gaza
  • Gaza
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • Israeli aggression
  • Israeli occupation forces
  • IOF

Most Read

Iran strikes secret Israeli-US bunker under Tel Aviv high-rise

Tel Aviv high-rise struck by Iran hid Site 81, secret US-Israeli base

  • Politics
  • 14 Oct 2025
Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jaafarawi in an undated image in Gaza, occupied Palestine (Social media)

Gaza Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi killed by collaborators

  • Politics
  • 12 Oct 2025
drop site

New report details extensive Israeli arson in Gaza after ceasefire

  • Politics
  • 13 Oct 2025
Illustration of fists breaking shackles, representing the liberation of Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons. (Illustrated by: AL Mayadeen English/Batoul Chamas)

4 prominent Palestinian detainees to be freed: Who are they?

  • Palestine
  • 13 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
The bodies of deceased Palestinians, held by Israel during the war, lie in plastic bags on the floor of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, following their release, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' returns 30 Palestinian bodies; some bear marks of torture

Gaza buried under 70 million tons of war debris as crisis deepens
Politics

Gaza buried under 70 million tons of debris, 20,000 lingering UXOs

Ex-White House adviser Ashley Tellis charged over secret files
Politics

Ex-White House advisor accused of amassing troves of top secret files

An Israeli soldier rests by a mobile artillery unit at a gathering point on the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern “Israel”, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP)
Politics

Global arms bans isolate 'Israel', yet its war machine keeps running

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS