Opinion In Gaza, Almost Every IDF Platoon Keeps a Human Shield, a Sub-army of Palestinian Slaves

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2025-03-30/ty-article-opinion/.premium/in-gaza-almost-every-idf-platoon-keeps-a-human-shield-a-sub-army-of-palestinian-slaves/00000195-e627-deaf-a397-f6674e390000

archive link: https://archive.ph/m6U7v

In Gaza, human shields are used by Israeli soldiers at least six times a day.

I served in Gaza for nine months, and first came across these procedures, called "mosquito protocol" in December 2023. It was only two months into the ground offensive, long before there was a shortage of dogs from the IDF's canine unit, Oketz, who were used for this purpose. This became the insane, unofficial excuse for this insane, unofficial procedure. I didn't realize then how ubiquitous using human shields, whom we referred to as a "shawish," would become.

Today, almost every platoon keeps a "shawish," and no infantry force enters a house before a "shawish" clears it. This means there are four "shawishes" in a company, twelve in a battalion, and at least 36 in a brigade. We operate a sub-army of slaves.

(snip)

I recently saw that the IDF's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened six investigations into the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and my jaw dropped. I've seen cover-ups before, but this is a new low. If the MPCID wanted to do its job seriously, it would have to open far more than even a thousand investigations. But all the MPCID wants is for us to be able to tell ourselves and the world that we're investigating ourselves, so they've found six scapegoats and are pinning it all on them.

[Beastly Boy]

1. I will take it for what it is: an opinion piece by an anonymous author making

sensational claims and producing no evidence, but still expecting everyone to take him at his word. It may be true, some of it may be true, or maybe it's all made up.

[al bupp]

2. CBS Evening News Israeli soldier tells CBS News he was ordered to use Palestinians as human shields in Gaza

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-soldier-palestinians-human-shields-gaza/

The war is back in Gaza. Since abandoning a ceasefire on March 17, the Israel Defense Forces have pounded the Palestinian territory with waves of deadly strikes it says are targeting Hamas terrorists. Those strikes have brought the overall death toll in Gaza to well over 50,000 since the beginning of the war, according to the enclave's Hamas-run Health Ministry.

CBS News spoke recently with an Israeli soldier who has questioned the military's tactics. Tommy — not his real name, as he agreed to speak with CBS News on the condition of anonymity — fought in Gaza for the IDF, and his account of the tactics used raises some serious questions.

"We've burned down buildings for no reasons, which is violating the international law, of course," he told CBS News. "…And we used human shields as protection."

Tommy said his commander ordered his unit to use Gazan civilians to search buildings for explosives instead of dogs.

"They were Palestinian," he said. "We sent them in first to see if the building was clear and check for booby traps…They were trembling and shaking."

Seems like confirmation to me.

[al bupp]

3. And there's this

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/24/middleeast/palestinians-human-shields-israel-military-gaza-intl/index.html
The Israeli military has used Palestinians as human shields in Gaza, soldier and former detainees say

The Israeli military has forced Palestinians to enter potentially booby-trapped houses and tunnels in Gaza to avoid putting its troops in harm’s way, according to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and five former detainees who said they were victims of the practice.

The soldier, who said his unit held two Palestinian prisoners for the explicit purpose of using them as human shields to probe dangerous places, said the practice was prevalent among Israeli units in Gaza.

“We told them to enter the building before us,” he explained. “If there are any booby traps, they will explode and not us.”

It was so common in the Israeli military that it had a name: “mosquito protocol.”

[al bupp]

4. Here's yet another

https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6390/The-Israeli-army%E2%80%99s-use-of-Palestinian-civilians-as-human-shields-has-been-documented-on-a-large-scale
The Israeli army’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields has been documented on a large scale

Palestinian Territory - Video footage released by Al Jazeera TV shows the Israeli army using detained Palestinian civilians as human shields and compelling them to enter dangerous combat zones—evidence of a systematic tactic of the army. There are numerous documented instances of civilians being used as human shields by Israeli forces, which is considered a war crime.

The leaked horrific scenes that were obtained and published by Al Jazeera reveal how the Israeli army uses civilians, including injured detainees, as human shields and forces them into hazardous combat zones after installing cameras on their bodies and binding them with rope. Each of the aforementioned acts of criminal, brutal, and inhumane behaviour constitutes a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, and is a full-fledged war crime. These crimes, and dozens of similar cases, require urgent intervention from the international justice system to ensure the protection of civilians, prevent their use as human shields, and hold the Israeli political and military perpetrators.

Following the commencement of the Israeli army’s ground operations at the end of October 2023, numerous documented cases have shown that the Israeli army has exploited Palestinian civilians by using them as human shields. These civilians have been forced to engage in military operations that directly endanger their lives, such as breaking into buildings or tunnels or searching for possible explosives and tunnels. Others have been detained in homes and conflict zones, endangering their lives and violating international humanitarian law.

The Israeli army has repeatedly used people as human shields, with numerous instances of this behaviour documented throughout the West Bank as well as the Gaza Strip. This is an expansion of a long-standing strategy employed by the Israeli army during times of escalation or during its frequent incursions into the West Bank.

It's just probably all propaganda, right?

[Beastly Boy]

5. One simple reply to all of your posts

If you were to stop reading into my post for a second and took some time to actually read it, it would be clear to you that I am questioning the legitimacy of the author, not necessarily the content of his opinion piece.

I made it clear when I wrote this about his claims: "It may be true, some of it may be true, or maybe it's all made up". There is just not enough known about the anonymous opinion writer in question to gauge his legitimacy.

Try as you may, none of your posts shed any light on this.