Israel army has ‘systematic policy’ of using Palestinians as human shields, rights group says

The Israeli army’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields is a systematic policy used by Israel throughout its occupation of Palestine, a rights group said yesterday.

This came after Al Jazeera aired footage showing the Israeli army using detained Palestinian civilians, including injured detainees, as human shields and forcing them into hazardous zones after installing cameras on their bodies and binding them with rope.

It's horrifying but not surprising, as Israel has been using Palestinian civilians as human shields for years.

Al Jazeera reveals footage documenting the crime of Israeli soldiers using Palestinian civilians and hostages from Gaza as human shields. They were forced to wear… pic.twitter.com/ZI5EzzYS5G

— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) June 30, 2024

Commenting on the video footage, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a statement the practice is as old as the Israeli occupation of Palestine, adding that “it is an aspect of the ongoing war of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, which reveals daily the reality of this occupation and the level of its unlimited brutality.”

It added that since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, the level of crimes carried out against Palestinian detainees and their families is unprecedented in intensity.

Israel, the rights group said, has committed the crime of enforced disappearance against Palestinians, in addition to torture, sexual assaults and rape.

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