Israeli soldiers and former detainees tell AP Israel’s use of human shields in Gaza is widespread (apnews.com)

submitted 2 months ago by Domino@lemmings.world to c/world@quokk.au

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The only times the Palestinian man wasn’t bound or blindfolded, he said, was when he was used by Israeli soldiers as their human shield.

Dressed in army fatigues with a camera fixed to his forehead, Ayman Abu Hamadan was forced into houses in the Gaza Strip to make sure they were clear of bombs and gunmen, he said. When one unit finished with him, he was passed to the next.

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[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Human Shields

Hamas:

Intentionally utilizing the presence of civilians or other protected persons to render certain areas immune from military attack is prohibited under international law. Amnesty International was not able to establish whether or not the fighters’ presence in the camps was intended to shield themselves from military attacks. However, under international humanitarian law, even if one party uses “human shields”, or is otherwise unlawfully endangering civilians, this does not absolve the opposing party from complying with its obligations to distinguish between military objectives and civilians or civilian objects, to refrain from carrying out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, and to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects.

Israel:

Additionally, there is extensive independent verification of Israel using Palestinians as Human Shields:

IDF uses Human Shields,
Including Children (2013 Report)
Palestinian children face unrelenting genocide, displacement, and systematic abuse throughout 2024
Israel “Systematically” Uses Gaza Children as Human Shields, Rights Group Finds 2024
Breaking The Silence - Testimonies from IDF Veterans

Deliberate Attacks on Civilians

Israel deliberately targets civilian areas. From in general with the Dahiya Doctrine to multiple systems deployed in Gaza to do so:

Israel also targets Israeli Soldiers and Civilians to prevent them being leveraged as hostages, known as the Hannibal Directive. Which was also used on Oct 7th.

[+] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk -9 points 2 months ago

I’m not here to deny the atrocities committed by the IDF - I’m simply questioning the legitimacy of the term in this specific context, while somewhat provocatively trying to highlight the fact that accusing Israel of using human shields is a bit like accusing Ukraine of killing civilians. While both may be technically true, it still paints a somewhat dishonest picture of the actual reality - which, in this case, is that using human shields is Hamas’ number one tactic, and no intellectually honest person can seriously claim otherwise.

[-] FelixCress@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

I’m not here to deny the atrocities committed by the IDF

That's precisely what you are doing. You are a genocide apologist and I am not surprised someone called you a "fascist" in another thread.

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

No one is buying your Zionist bullshit

[-] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk -4 points 2 months ago

Well obviously not. We're long past the times where it mattered what anyone was actually saying. Fighting strawmen and attacking people directly rather than what they're saying is a lot easier and wins you many more upvotes from the hivemind.

[-] Keeponstalin@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Good thing I brought an entire fucking list of sources, dumbass

this post was submitted on 24 May 2025

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