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Arab News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Deconstructing the language of war in Gaza
In the dense urban landscapes of Gaza, where homes, schools, hospitals and humanitarian offices blend into the same war-ravaged blocks, a chilling narrative has taken root: the justification of civilian deaths through the term 'human shields.' It is a phrase that, with calculated frequency, surfaces in military briefings and international news coverage — offered up as explanation, defense or even absolution for airstrikes that leave families buried beneath the rubble. But what does it mean to accuse an entire population of serving as human shields, and who benefits from this framing? This terminology has become a central rhetorical device in the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel, backed by several Western allies, repeatedly claims that Hamas embeds itself within civilian infrastructure, using hospitals, schools and densely populated areas as cover. These claims are used to justify strikes that result in high civilian casualties and the destruction of critical infrastructure, including the deaths of aid workers and UN personnel. Yet, to critically assess this narrative, we must examine not only its implications but its very foundations. International humanitarian law prohibits the use of civilians as human shields. It also mandates that all warring parties distinguish between combatants and noncombatants and take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians. But the invocation of 'human shields' creates a dangerous legal gray zone — one that permits the reclassification of civilian-heavy areas as legitimate military targets, even in the absence of transparent evidence. In effect, the accusation of 'human shields' becomes a post hoc shield for military action, not a verified truth Hani Hazaimeh This ambiguity is often exploited. When a missile strikes a refugee camp, or when a humanitarian convoy is targeted, the fallback explanation is often a vague claim of militant presence in the vicinity. Rarely are these claims independently verified and often they are retroactively provided. In effect, the accusation becomes a post hoc shield for military action, not a verified truth. This language erodes accountability. It transforms war crimes into tactical necessity and leaves civilians in Gaza with no safe haven — not even within the walls of a UN school or beneath the tents of an aid organization. Labeling civilians as human shields does more than justify their deaths — it dehumanizes them. It subtly shifts blame from the aggressor to the victim, implying that civilian suffering is not only inevitable but strategic. This framing creates a moral detachment, desensitizing the world to scenes of bloodied children and shattered homes. It also reinforces a false dichotomy: that the people of Gaza are either combatants or collaborators, shields or threats. This dichotomy ignores the basic truth that the majority of Gaza's population are children, mothers, elders and aid workers — people who have nowhere to flee and nothing to shield but their families. Nowhere is the cost of this language more tragically evident than in the rising death toll among aid workers. The UN Relief and Works Agency, Doctors Without Borders and other humanitarian organizations have seen their staff killed while delivering food, administering medical care or sheltering refugees. These are not military operations. They are lifelines. Yet when these convoys or compounds are hit, the same justification often resurfaces: alleged militant proximity. This deflects outrage and inhibits meaningful investigations. More importantly, it contributes to the breakdown of humanitarian corridors and the paralysis of relief operations — leaving an already besieged population even more vulnerable. Nowhere is the cost of this language more tragically evident than in the rising death toll among aid workers Hani Hazaimeh Words matter. They shape public opinion, influence international policy and determine whether tragedies are investigated or ignored. The language used to describe the war in Gaza must reflect the reality on the ground — not political agendas or military talking points. The international media must rigorously interrogate claims of human shields being used and resist the urge to parrot official narratives without evidence. Human rights organizations must push for independent investigations into all strikes that result in civilian deaths, particularly those targeting or affecting aid agencies. Governments and international bodies must hold all parties accountable to the standards of international law — not selectively or symbolically, but consistently and transparently. And most of all, we must remember that beneath the euphemisms and geopolitical calculus are real people — families that grieve, children who fear and communities that endure trauma that no terminology can justify. The people of Gaza are not shields. They are human beings. And their suffering should not be rationalized — it should be stopped. • Hani Hazaimeh is a senior editor based in Amman. X: @hanihazaimeh
Al Bawaba
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
"A new reality awaits Israel": Iran signals major transformation
ALBAWABA - A top Iranian military spokesperson warned Sunday night that Israel may soon become 'uninhabitable' and that its residents will no longer be protected by underground shelters as tensions between Iran and Israel escalate. According to the spokesperson, Iran has a comprehensive and in-depth database of important Israeli targets, including military installations, intelligence hubs, offices for making decisions, and even the residences of top military officials and scientists. He cautioned citizens from serving as "human shields," stating that "Shelters will not keep Israelis safe." The official stated in his statements that a number of sensitive locations on Israeli land have already been struck by Iran's recent strikes. Any additional Israeli assault, he stressed, would be faced with a "shocking" and "comprehensive" retaliation that would encompass all of what Iran views as occupied land. Iran's Mehr News Agency reported the remarks as part of a larger statement that also included scathing criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His government is 'corrupt, criminal, and failing,' according to the Iranian military, which also charged that he started the recent escalation for personal benefit, endangering Israeli lives in the process. With a promise that retaliation would not be restricted in scope or location, the spokesperson declared, "Iran's armed forces will deliver a crushing and painful response to this child-killing regime." The declarations come after multiple nights of cross-border assaults in which Iran claimed to have successfully struck vital Israeli infrastructure. Israel has continued its own airstrikes against Iranian assets and has refuted several of Iran's claims. International observers are concerned about the escalating war because they believe the current military engagements could turn into a wider regional conflict.
Al Jazeera
27-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
How common is Israel's use of human shields in Gaza and the West Bank?
A recent report by The Associated Press that exposed the Israeli military's 'systematic' use of Palestinians as human shields has shone a light on an illegal practice that has become commonplace over the 19-month war in Gaza and parallel offensives in the West Bank. The report, published on Saturday, featured the testimonies of seven Palestinians who had been used as human shields in Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank, with two Israeli military officers confirming the ubiquity of the practice, which is considered a violation of international law. Responding to the allegations, Israel's military told the news agency that using civilians as shields in its operations was strictly prohibited and that several cases were under investigation. So what are human shields? How widely have they been used by the Israeli military? And is Israel likely to launch a crackdown any time soon? Under international humanitarian law (IHL), the term 'human shields' refers to the use of civilians or other protected persons, whether voluntary or involuntary, in order to shield military targets from attacks. The use of human shields in warfare is prohibited under IHL, but Israeli soldiers have allegedly employed it widely during the Gaza genocide. Earlier this year, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published the first-hand testimony of an Israeli soldier who said that the practice had been used 'six times a day' in his unit and that it had effectively been 'normalised' in military ranks. Back in August, the newspaper had revealed that Palestinians used as human shields in Gaza tended to be in their 20s and were used for periods of up to a week by units, which took pride in 'locating' detainees to send into tunnel shafts and buildings. 'It's become part of [Israel's] military culture,' said Nicola Perugini, co-author of Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire, noting the 'huge archive' of evidence provided, not only by human rights groups, but also by soldiers, who were until recently posting evidence of Palestinians being used as 'fodder' on social media with an apparent sense of total impunity. 'Israeli army investigations have proven throughout the decades to be non-investigations,' Perugini said, noting that documentation of the practice, forbidden by Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions, started during the second Intifada of the early 2000s. 'What we have now in the live-streamed genocide is the most documented archive of human shielding in the history of the different wars between Israel and the Palestinians,' he said. 'What we have discovered is precisely that it is a systematic practice.' Throughout the conflict, the Israeli military's response to allegations has been to withhold comment, to point to a lack of details, or, when faced with undeniable proof, to announce a probe. Last year, Israel declined to respond to a range of allegations put to it by Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, which examined thousands of photos and videos – the bulk of them posted online by Israeli soldiers – and testimonies pointing to a number of potential war crimes, including the use of human shields. Among the atrocities revealed by the team in the resulting documentary was the case of Jamal Abu al-Ola, a detainee forced to act as a messenger by the Israelis. Footage showed the young man dressed in a white hazmat suit, with hands bound and head wrapped in a yellow cloth, telling displaced people at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to evacuate. His mother followed him out, and witnessed him being shot dead by a sniper. Commenting on the case for the documentary, Rodney Dixon, an international law expert, said that al-Ola had been used as a 'military asset', which was 'in many ways the definition of using persons as a human shield'. This year, the military pushed back on calls to investigate a report on an 80-year-old man forced to act as a human shield in Gaza City, saying that 'additional details' were needed. The joint report from Israeli outlet The Hottest Place in Hell and +972 Magazine revealed a horrific new dimension of the so-called 'mosquito procedure', with anonymous Israeli soldiers recounting that a senior officer had placed an explosive cord around the man's neck, threatening to blow his head off if he made any false moves. Ordered afterwards to flee his home in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, the man was shot dead with his wife by another battalion. However, the military will acknowledge violations when confronted with undeniable evidence provoking widespread outrage, such as last year's video of wounded Palestinian man Mujahed Azmi, strapped to the hood of an army jeep during a raid on the West Bank city of Jenin. That particular case was described as 'human shielding in action' by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations' special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territory. In a statement, Israel's military said its forces were fired at and exchanged fire, wounding a suspect and apprehending him. It added that the 'conduct of the forces in the video' did not 'conform to the values' of the military and that the incident would be investigated. However, as Perugini observes, the very reason why the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza is because legal experts doubt Israel's ability to investigate itself. Despite vast evidence, the question of whether the military will be launching a crackdown aimed at banishing the apparently systematic practice is moot. Even so, pressure for accountability is growing. Rights groups say the practice of using human shields has been going on in the occupied Palestinian territories for decades. Breaking the Silence, a whistle-blower group gathering testimonies of former Israeli soldiers, cites evidence of what one high-ranking officer posted to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank back in 2002 called 'neighbour procedure'. 'You order a Palestinian to accompany you and to open the door of the house you want to enter, to knock on the door and ask to enter, with a very simple objective: if the door blows up, a Palestinian will be blown up, and soldiers won't be blown up,' said the officer, ranked as a major. In 2005, an Israeli Supreme Court ruling explicitly barred the practice. Five years later, two soldiers were convicted of using a nine-year-old boy as a human shield to check suspected booby traps in the Gaza City suburb of Tal al-Hawa. It was reportedly the first such conviction in Israel. But the military's use of human shields appears to have been normalised since then, particularly over the past 19 months of war in Gaza. Indeed, there are indications that orders may be coming from the very top. Haaretz's investigation from last August cited sources as saying that former Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi was among the senior officers aware of the use of Palestinians in Gaza as human shields. And this week's report by the AP cited an anonymous Israeli officer as saying that the practice had become ubiquitous by mid-2004 in Gaza, with every infantry unit using a Palestinian to clear houses by the time he finished his service, and with orders 'to bring a mosquito' often being issued via radio. The report also cited an anonymous Israeli sergeant as saying that his unit had tried to refuse to use human shields in Gaza in 2024, but was told they had no choice, a high-ranking officer telling them they shouldn't worry about international humanitarian law. Responding to claims in the AP report, the Israeli military told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that it would investigate the claims 'if further details are provided'. 'In several cases, investigations by the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division were opened following suspicions that the military was involving Palestinians in military missions. These investigations are ongoing, and naturally, no further details can be provided at this time,' it said. In March, Haaretz reported that Israel's military police were investigating six cases in which Israeli soldiers were alleged to have used Palestinians as human shields after the publication of a Red Cross report earlier in the year that highlighted the abuses. In the face of growing evidence that Palestinians are systematically being used as fodder for the Israeli military machine, in a war that has already killed more than 54,000 people, the military may find it increasingly difficult to kick the biggest can of all down the road. Said Perugini: 'When you are in a genocide, then human shielding becomes a tool for something else. It becomes part of a different kind of crime, of the crime of crimes.'
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israel investigates use of Palestinians as human shields by its forces in Gaza
Israel is investigating ''several cases'' involving soldiers who have forced Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for bombs and gunmen. 'The use of Palestinians as human shields, or otherwise coercing them to participate in military operations, is strictly prohibited in IDF [Israel Defense Forces] orders,' the Israeli army said in a statement. 'Allegations of conduct that does not comply with these directives and procedures are examined. In several cases, investigations by MPCID [Israeli military police criminal division] were opened following suspicions of involving Palestinians in military missions.' Earlier on Saturday, the Associated Press reported that several Palestinians and Israeli soldiers had said troops were systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza – a dangerous practice that has 'become ubiquitous during 19 months of war', they said. Seven Palestinians described being used as shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and two members of Israel's military said they engaged in the practice, which is prohibited by international law. Rights groups have expressed alarm, saying it's become standard procedure increasingly used in the war. 'These are not isolated accounts; they point to a systemic failure and a horrifying moral collapse,' Nadav Weiman, the executive director of Breaking the Silence – a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers that has collected testimonies about the practice from within the military, told AP. 'Israel rightly condemns Hamas for using civilians as human shields, but our own soldiers describe doing the very same.' One alleged victim, Abu Hamadan, said he was detained in August after being separated from his family, and soldiers told him he'd help with a 'special mission'. He was forced, for 17 days, to assist searching houses and inspecting every hole in the ground for tunnels, he said. Soldiers stood behind him and, once it was clear, entered the buildings to damage or destroy them, he said. The two Israeli soldiers who spoke to the AP – and a third who provided testimony to Breaking the Silence – said commanders were aware of the use of human shields and tolerated it, with some giving orders to do so. Some said it was referred to as the 'mosquito protocol' and that Palestinians were also referred to as 'wasps' and other dehumanising terms. The soldiers, who said they were no longer serving in Gaza, claimed the practice sped up operations, saved ammunition and spared combat dogs from injury or death. In October, the Guardian collected testimonies from former Palestinian detainees which were largely consistent with the reporting by AP. The IDF said the investigations were ongoing but provided no more details. The forcible use of Palestinian detainees to enter houses and tunnels in Gaza first came into public view in footage broadcast by Al Jazeera television in June and July. An investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in August gathered testimony from Israeli soldiers who said the Palestinians used as shields were known as 'shawish', a word of Turkish origin meaning 'sergeant'. The soldiers suggested that it was an institutionalised tactic approved by senior officers. In 2002, Israel's high court issued an injunction prohibiting the IDF from using what was known as the 'neighbour procedure', detaining a Palestinian in an area of unrest and ordering the detainee to knock on the doors of their neighbours and oversee the clearance of their houses. The use of human shields lived on, however. In 2010, two IDF staff sergeants were demoted for forcing a nine-year-old Palestinian boy to open a number of bags suspected of containing explosives. The Associated Press contributed to this report
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israeli use of Palestinian human shields in Gaza is widespread, detainees say
Israeli troops are systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza , sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for bombs and gunmen , Israeli soldiers and former detainees have said. They said the practice has become ubiquitous over 19 months of war. Israel's military responded by saying it prohibits using civilians as shields, a practice it has long accused Hamas of using. Chiefs say they are investigating a handful of cases, but would not provide any details. READ MORE Seven Palestinians described being used as shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. One said he was beaten, bound and blindfolded. The practice is said to be widespread. Photograph: Breaking the Silence/AP Two Israeli solders also described using human shields, and that derogatory terms like 'mosquito' were used to refer to the Palestinians. One Palestinian man, Ayman Abu Hamadan, told the Associated Press that when he was detained in northern Gaza last year, the only time he was not bound or blindfolded was when he was used by Israeli soldiers as their human shield. Dressed in army fatigues with a camera fixed to his forehead, the 36-year-old 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. 'They beat me and told me: 'You have no other option; do this or we'll kill you,'' he said, describing the two and a half weeks he was held last summer by the Israeli military in northern Gaza. One Israeli officer said that orders often came from the top, and at times nearly every platoon used a Palestinian to clear locations. The war in Gaza is raging on. Photograph: AP Several Palestinians and soldiers said Israeli troops are systematically forcing Palestinians to act as human shields in Gaza, sending them into buildings and tunnels to check for explosives or militants. The dangerous practice has become ubiquitous during 19 months of war, they said. The Israeli military has long accused Hamas of using human shields in Gaza. Israeli officials blame the militants for the civilian death toll in its offensive that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. In a statement, the military said it also bans otherwise coercing civilians to participate in operations, and 'all such orders are routinely emphasised to the forces'. The AP spoke with seven Palestinians who described being used as shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and with two members of Israel's military who said they engaged in the practice, which is prohibited by international law. Rights groups have warned that this has become standard procedure in the war. 'These are not isolated accounts; they point to a systemic failure and a horrifying moral collapse,' said Nadav Weiman, executive director of Breaking the Silence – a whistleblower group of former Israeli soldiers that has collected testimonies about the practice from within the military. 'Israel rightly condemns Hamas for using civilians as human shields, but our own soldiers describe doing the very same.' Mr Abu Hamadan said he was detained in August after being separated from his family, and soldiers told him he'd help with a 'special mission'. He was forced, for 17 days, to search houses and inspect every hole in the ground for tunnels, he said. Soldiers stood behind him and, once it was clear, entered the buildings to damage or destroy them, he said. He spent each night bound in a dark room, only to wake up and do it again. Rights groups say Israel has used Palestinians as shields in Gaza and the West Bank for decades. Experts say this war is the first time in decades that the practice – and the debate around it – has been so widespread. The two Israeli soldiers who spoke to the AP – and a third who provided testimony to Breaking the Silence – said commanders were aware of the use of human shields and tolerated it, with some giving orders to do so. Some said it was referred to as the 'mosquito protocol', and that Palestinians were also referred to as 'wasps' and other dehumanising terms. The soldiers – who said they are no longer serving in Gaza – said the practice sped up operations, saved ammunition, and spared combat dogs from injury or death. The soldiers said they first became aware human shields were being used shortly after the war erupted on October 7th, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, and that it became widespread by the middle of 2024. Orders to 'bring a mosquito' often came via radio, they said – shorthand everyone understood. Soldiers acted on commanding officers' orders, said the officer. He said that by the end of his nine months in Gaza, every infantry unit used a Palestinian to clear houses before entering. 'Once this idea was initiated, it caught on like fire in a field,' the 26-year-old said. 'People saw how effective and easy it was.' One report documented the accidental killing of a Palestinian, he said – troops did not realise another unit was using him as a shield and shot him as he ran into a house. The officer recommended the Palestinians should be dressed in army clothes to avoid misidentification. He said he knew of at least one other Palestinian who died while he was used as a shield, having passed out in a tunnel. – Associated Press
