Israeli army reportedly uses Palestinians as 'human shields' in Gaza

Ramez al-Skafi, a 30-year-old Palestinian from northern Gaza, was forcibly separated from his family and detained by Israeli forces after his home was destroyed, the Guardian has reported. He was then subjected to a disturbing ordeal: for over 10 days in July, he was forced by the Israeli military to act as a "human shield" in their operations against hidden explosives and Hamas fighters in Gaza, according to the report.

"I tried to resist their proposal, but they started beating me and the officer told me it was not my choice to make and that I have to do whatever they want," Skafi recounted, describing how Israeli officers coerced him into entering homes and tunnels ahead of their soldiers.

Skafi's claims, reported by the British newspaper earlier this week, align with footage previously published by Al Jazeera, with one of the videos showing a prisoner being forced into a tunnel after being tied with a rope and having a camera attached to his body. 

An August report by Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, also revealed how the Israeli military used Palestinians to carry out reconnaissance missions. These civilians, referred to as "shawish" by the soldiers – a term derived from Arabic meaning "sergeant" – were forced to clear potentially booby-trapped sites in Israeli military uniforms, Haaretz said, citing Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) deny these allegations, saying its rules explicitly prohibit the use of civilians in combat situations and that the claims have been forwarded for further review by relevant authorities. The Geneva Conventions strictly forbid the use of civilians as human shields, a practice that is also prohibited under Israeli law.

However, testimonies from Skafi and other detainees paint a grim picture. On multiple occasions, Skafi said he was forced to carry a small drone into houses, filming interiors for the soldiers outside. "After I had finished filming the houses from the inside and left, they entered and they started destroying it," he said.

Skafi's testimony also mirrors the experiences of two other Palestinians interviewed by the Guardian. Both described being subject to "shawish" tactics, with one saying Israeli soldiers installed a GPS tracker on him and threatened to shoot him if he tried to escape.

CNN and the New York Times, both citing IDF soldiers and former detainees, reported similar activities.

"It's better that the Palestinian will explode and not our soldiers," a soldier said one of his commanders told him, according to CNN.

Human rights groups say these accounts reflect a longstanding problem, despite Israel's prohibition of such practices. The Guardian report also referenced a 2010 case in which two IDF sergeants were demoted for forcing a nine-year-old Palestinian boy to open suspected explosive bags during an operation.