‘I was Left No Choice’ – Palestinians used as Human Shields by Israeli Forces in Gaza 

Detainees from Gaza are held in secret locations inside Israel. (Photo: via Euro-Med Monitor)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The forcible use of Palestinian detainees as human shields was first revealed through footage broadcast by the Al-Jazeera television channel in June and July.

Palestinian detainees have described how the Israeli forces used them as human shields in the Gaza Strip, forcing them to search unexplored houses and tunnels ahead of the soldiers, the British newspaper The Guardian reported.

Ramez al-Skafi, 30, told the paper that when he was detained in early July, the Israeli forces had a particular job in mind for him. For 11 days, he was turned into a human shield “against booby-traps and Hamas gunmen,” the paper said.

“I tried to resist their proposal, but they started beating me and the officer told me it was not my choice to make and that I have to do whatever they want,” Skafi said.

Palestinians describe being used as ‘human shields’ by Israeli troops in Gaza https://t.co/XOcdN1zL3d pic.twitter.com/Xot4839MIn

— Guardian Weekly (@guardianweekly) October 21, 2024

His “work” he was told “would be searching the houses and telling them information about the homeowners,” adding that “After some extreme pressure, I was left no choice.”

He said the next day “I was told to go out on patrol with the Israeli soldiers, and I was very scared because of the tanks in front of me and the planes in the sky above me.”

“When (his minders) noticed my fear, they assured me: ‘They know you are with us.’”

‘Shawish’

The Guardian interviewed three Palestinians who shared similar stories of being used as shields known as “shawish,” a word of Turkish origin meaning “sergeant,” the paper said, citing an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The Haaretz report was based on testimony from Israeli soldiers who suggested that it was an institutionalized tactic approved by senior officers.

“It’s done with the knowledge of the brigade commander, at the least,” a conscript in a combat unit said.

Not only do Israelis use Palestinians as human shields to deter enemy fire but, worse, to draw it. At base is colonial-racism at work that makes Israeli barbarism palatable to the West.@nevegordon in @AJEnglish https://t.co/6eJRigUZIE#Gaza #Genocide #Nakba pic.twitter.com/ngh7pEXs8I

— Noura Erakat (@4noura) October 21, 2024

The forcible use of Palestinian detainees as human shields was first revealed through footage broadcast by the Al-Jazeera television channel in June and July, the Guardian report said.

Skafi said he was forced to hand-carry small quadcopter drones into the houses being searched so that the Israeli forces “could see what was inside through the drones’ built-in cameras,” the report added.

“After I had finished filming the houses from the inside and left, they entered and they started destroying it,” Skafi said, adding that “Every day, after they’d finished with me, they used to tie my hands and cover my eyes.” The chains were only removed when he was given food or allowed to use the bathroom.

‘We Will Shoot You’

Another detainee, Ismail al-Sawalhi, a blacksmith and farmer from Jabalilya camp said he was detained near the Kerem Shalom in July and used as a human shield for 12 days, in clearing operations in Rafah.

“They took us to missions with them, sending me to the houses in front of them to make sure of their safety, and then they would enter behind us, and after they left, they used to blow up the house behind them,” the 30-year-old said.

A 35-year-old from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, who identified himself only as Abu Said for fear of reprisals, was detained in February and used as a human shield for four hours.

Before the NYT covered Israel’s criminal human shields policy in Gaza, @TheGrayzoneNews interviewed a Gaza man press ganged into the program, who lived to tell his horrifying story only through sheer luck

This testimony deserves much wider attention pic.twitter.com/EXxBd2Jzq3 https://t.co/txs7BPzcnJ

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 17, 2024

“The Israeli soldiers put a GPS tracker on my hand and told me: ‘If you try to run away, we will shoot you. We will know where you are,’” he said.

He said he was asked to go to knock on the doors of four houses and two schools and ask people to leave – women and children first and then the men.

“At one of the schools, the situation was very dangerous,” he told the paper. “I shouted to everyone in the school to leave quietly, but at that moment there was heavy shooting by the Israeli army and I thought I was going to die.”

Eventually, the tracker was taken off, and Abu Said was told to leave the area waving a white flag he was supplied with, the report said.

“If you don’t do what they ask, they will kill you without hesitation,” he stated.

‘Widely Used Protocol’

The Guardian said that according to whistleblowers who spoke to the dissident veterans’ group Breaking The Silence (BTS), the practice is widespread.

Nadav Weiman, BTS director and a former Israeli army sniper, said: “From what we understand it was a very widely used protocol, meaning there are hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza who have been used as human shields.

Israel is Torturing, Abducting and Using Children as Human Shields in Gaza – Analysis

Weiman explained that Palestinians “are being grabbed from humanitarian corridors inside Gaza … and then they’re being brought to different units inside Gaza – regular infantry units, not special forces.”

Those Palestinians are being used as human shields to sweep tunnels and also houses, Weiman said.

“In some cases, they have a GoPro camera on their chest or on their head and in almost all of the cases, they are cuffed before they are taken into a tunnel or house to sweep and they are dressed in IDF uniform.”

Using prisoners as human shields is prohibited under Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: “The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)