An Israeli military officer accidentally shot and killed a Palestinian who was being used by IDF troops as a “human shield,” Hamakom Hachi Ham Bagehenom, a Hebrew language magazine, reported on Tuesday.
Using Palestinians as human shields to search buildings and tunnels that may be booby-trapped or contain hiding Hamas militants has been a common practice of the Israeli military.
The report said the incident occurred in August 2024 when the IDF’s Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion was in the southern city of Rafah. The Palestinian being used as a human shield was in a building that a commander from the battalion entered.
According to the report, the commander didn’t know the Palestinian was being used by the battalion and opened fire, killing him. An IDF spokesman confirmed the incident to the magazine, claiming that the “case was investigated by the brigade commander. The lessons of the investigation have been implemented into the forces’ activities.”
The Israeli military has used Palestinian civilians held without charge to serve as human shields, including minors. Mohammed Shubeir, a 17-year-old Palestinian, told The New York Times that he was used by the IDF as a human shield in his hometown, Khan Younis, where he was found hiding with his family.
Shubeir said he was forced to walk through the ruins and enter buildings in handcuffs. In one instance, he did find explosives in a building. “The soldiers sent me like a dog to a booby-trapped apartment,” he said. “I thought these would be the last moments of my life.”
Israel and its main backer the US are constantly accusing Hamas of using human shields in Gaza to justify the massive civilian casualties.
