Urbanguerrilla
Silver Member
- Aug 27, 2010
- 1,079
- 108
- 98
10. The use of Palestinian civilians as human shields
55. The Mission investigated four incidents in which Israeli forces coerced Palestinian civilian
men at gun point to take part in house searches during the military operations (Chapter XIV).
The Palestinian men were blindfolded and handcuffed as they were forced to enter houses ahead
of the Israeli soldiers. In one of the incidents, Israeli forces repeatedly forced a man to enter a
house in which Palestinian combatants were hiding. Published testimonies of Israeli soldiers who
took part in the military operations confirm the continued use of this practice, in spite of clear
orders from Israels High Court to the armed forces to put an end to it and repeated public
assurances from the armed forces that the practice had been discontinued. The Mission
concludes that this practice amounts to the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and is
therefore prohibited by international humanitarian law. It puts the right to life of the civilians at
risk in an arbitrary and unlawful manner and constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment. The use of
human shields also is a war crime. The Palestinian men used as human shields were questioned
under threat of death or injury to extract information about Hamas, Palestinian combatants and
tunnels. This constitutes a further violation of international humanitarian law.
Full UN report on Gaza war
55. The Mission investigated four incidents in which Israeli forces coerced Palestinian civilian
men at gun point to take part in house searches during the military operations (Chapter XIV).
The Palestinian men were blindfolded and handcuffed as they were forced to enter houses ahead
of the Israeli soldiers. In one of the incidents, Israeli forces repeatedly forced a man to enter a
house in which Palestinian combatants were hiding. Published testimonies of Israeli soldiers who
took part in the military operations confirm the continued use of this practice, in spite of clear
orders from Israels High Court to the armed forces to put an end to it and repeated public
assurances from the armed forces that the practice had been discontinued. The Mission
concludes that this practice amounts to the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and is
therefore prohibited by international humanitarian law. It puts the right to life of the civilians at
risk in an arbitrary and unlawful manner and constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment. The use of
human shields also is a war crime. The Palestinian men used as human shields were questioned
under threat of death or injury to extract information about Hamas, Palestinian combatants and
tunnels. This constitutes a further violation of international humanitarian law.
Full UN report on Gaza war