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AP Investigation: Israeli Units Ordered to Use Civilians as Human Shields in Gaza
The Associated Press has verified a widespread Israeli military practice of using Palestinian human shields, based on soldiers’ confessions and eyewitness accounts.
The Associated Press has verified a widespread Israeli military practice of using Palestinians to clear combat zones, based on soldiers’ confessions and eyewitness accounts.
In a damning investigative report published by the Associated Press on Saturday, multiple testimonies from Palestinians and Israeli soldiers confirm that the Israeli army has systematically used Palestinian civilians as human shields during its ongoing war on Gaza — a practice explicitly banned under international law.
The AP spoke with seven Palestinian civilians who described being forced into highly dangerous military operations — including being made to enter buildings, dig through rubble, and inspect tunnels — under direct threat of death.
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Two Israeli soldiers also admitted to participating in the practice, saying it had become routine across infantry units during the 19-month assault.
“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 provided corroborating testimonies.
One of the civilians, Ayman Abu Hamadan, a 36-year-old from northern Gaza, told the AP: “They beat me and told me: ‘You have no other option; do this or we’ll kill you.’” Dressed in army fatigues and with a camera strapped to his forehead, he was sent repeatedly into houses to “make sure they were clear of bombs and gunmen.”
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According to the AP, the practice became so widespread that it even developed its own internal military jargon.
Israeli soldiers referred to Palestinians as “mosquitoes” and used the term “mosquito protocol” to describe operations involving human shields.
“Once this idea was initiated, it caught on like fire in a field,” said one 26-year-old Israeli officer who served in Gaza and described it as a common tactic used across nearly every platoon.
The officer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said he filed two incident reports to his brigade commander, one of which documented the accidental killing of a Palestinian being used as a shield.
“Troops didn’t realize another unit was using him as a shield and shot him as he ran into a house,” he told AP. He said his report recommended dressing the civilians in army fatigues to avoid such confusion.
The Israeli military, in a written response to the AP, denied authorizing the practice and claimed that it “strictly prohibits using civilians as shields” and that any such orders are “routinely emphasized to the forces.” It acknowledged investigations into several such cases but refused to disclose their scope or outcome.
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Despite this, the AP found the use of human shields was so prevalent that some units received radio orders to “bring a mosquito”—an understood command to forcibly conscript a Palestinian for clearing operations.
One Israeli soldier said a high-ranking officer told his unit not to concern themselves with international humanitarian law when they tried to resist, according to the report.
Among those used as human shields was Masoud Abu Saeed, who recounted being forced for two weeks in March 2024 to search houses and even a hospital in Khan Yunis. “I have children and want to reunite with them,” he pleaded with soldiers, to no avail.
The AP report also documents cases in the occupied West Bank. Hazar Estity, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp, said Israeli soldiers forced her to enter and film several apartments in November 2023. “I was most afraid that they would kill me,” she told AP, “and that I wouldn’t see my son again.”
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Hamas: Moral Collapse
In response to the AP investigation, the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas issued a statement describing the report as further proof of Israel’s commission of war crimes and systematic violations.
Citing the testimonies of Israeli soldiers and officers, Hamas said the use of Palestinians as human shields with direct orders from senior commanders represents a “flagrant war crime” prohibited by international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.
The movement added that the practices documented in the report reflect a “systematic, deliberate policy” and “the moral and institutional collapse within the ranks of this terrorist army.”
Hamas called on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate action to stop these violations, hold Israeli officials accountable, and end the silence that has allowed such crimes to continue.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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