Human shields yet another Israeli violation of human rights laws

Israel has violated practically every single human right of Palestinians in Gaza over the last 10 months. Palestinian life is disposable. Even the dead have been violated. The rape of prisoners is seemingly acceptable.

However, one aspect that is rarely commented on is Israel’s use of Palestinians as human shields. Hamas is routinely accused of using human shields. Its taking of hostages and holding them close to its combatants and leaders is a blatant violation of international law. The Israeli argument is that Hamas members embed themselves in civilian areas, including schools and hospitals. No doubt this is true, but the extent is unclear.

Yet, with Israel bombing 17 schools in July alone, what is happening is that Tel Aviv has determined that it is acceptable to bomb a crowded school that acts as a civilian shelter on the basis that there may be a small number of Hamas members there. Israeli spokespeople do not claim that those members are in active combat. This violates the duties of Israel to distinguish at all times between civilian and military, and also the issue of proportionality.

The use of human shields has a long history. Such shields can either be voluntary, involuntary or proximate. Voluntary human shields were promoted by Mahatma Gandhi in India, for example.

Involuntary human shields are prohibited in international law under the Geneva Conventions and, since 2005, have been outlawed in theory in Israel. It is when a warring party forces people to serve as protection against their will.

Italian forces accused their Ethiopian opponents of hiding weapons and fighters in hospitals back in the 1930s, just as Israel accuses Hamas of this now. Many of the accusations Israel has made of the misuse of hospitals in Gaza were not backed up by evidence or were subsequently determined to be false. Remember the model of the huge bunker that Israeli officials produced, claiming that this was what they would find under Al-Shifa Hospital. Such an installation was never located. But it did allow Israeli propagandists to deflect criticism for the bombing of hospitals, reaching a situation where today the bombing of a hospital barely elicits even a condemnation.

The term “proximate shields” has been coined to describe those civilians found close to belligerents. This is the most common type of shield in modern-day warfare. The population of an entire city could become a shield, meaning they would suffer extraordinary violence as a result and often for days, weeks and months at a time. Civilians, as in the case of Gaza, are often trapped and have no ability to change this status. Israel has abused this to justify horrific levels of bombardment.

Tel Aviv has determined that it is acceptable to bomb a crowded school that acts as a civilian shelter

Chris Doyle

But Israel also has a long history of using involuntary human shields and is doing so again in Gaza. Israeli armed forces have used Palestinian civilians to search buildings and tunnels for booby traps and fighters prior to Israeli soldiers going in. They are even dressed in Israeli uniforms but can be spotted as they wear sneakers not army boots and are cuffed behind their backs. Videos have been leaked that show Palestinians going down tunnels while tied to ropes to hunt for any explosives.

According to the Israeli nongovernmental organization Breaking the Silence, which takes testimonies from serving soldiers, the practice is so widespread in Gaza that it could be determined as a “protocol.” Israeli soldiers have been told: “Our lives are more important than their lives.” Evidence also indicates that Palestinians were used in preference to trained dogs as the latter were seen as more valuable.

This is another state-sanctioned policy. Israeli reports state clearly that the chief of staff is fully aware. Officials also know that Palestinian children have been used, as well as the elderly.

The use of human shields is not restricted to Gaza. Evidence abounds of Israeli soldiers using human shields in the West Bank. Human rights groups reported three boys being used as such in Tulkarem in May. And a wounded Palestinian was strapped to the front of a military jeep in Jenin the same month.

Israel’s use of Palestinians as human shields has a long history. Palestinians were certainly used in the West Bank during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. In Gaza, soldiers’ testimonies reveal that shields were also used during Operation Cast Lead in 2009. “Sometimes a force would enter while placing rifle barrels on a civilian’s shoulder, advancing into a house and using him as a human shield,” according to one soldier.

But who holds Israel to account for this? The answer, as ever, is nobody. As with a whole raft of human rights abuses and chronic violations of international law, a dark veil of omerta shrouds international statesmen. The hypocrisy is rank, as Hamas is widely accused of the same crime, while Israel is barely ever questioned.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech