The United States had evidence last year that Israeli soldiers were using Palestinians as human shields in war-torn Gaza during their operations against Hamas in underground tunnels, says a report.
Citing information by US intelligence officers, the report, published by a leading international news agency, said the information on Palestinian human shields was shared with the White House and analysed by members of intelligence agencies in the final weeks of former US President Joe Biden’s term.
The report highlights how Israeli soldiers flouted the international law that bars the use of civilians as human shields.
Besides the latest report, Israel’s use of human shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank has been documented on multiple occasions. However, the report acknowledges that Washington documented its own evidence on the subject.
US officials who revealed the information did not provide any specifics about particular incidents that investigators collected evidence from.
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Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Israeli military said in a statement that it “prohibits the use of civilians as human shields or coercing them in any way to participate in military operations”.
It also said that the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division is investigating “suspicions involving Palestinians in military missions”.
Israeli forces have maintained that tunnels in Gaza were implanted with explosives and ‘booby traps’ set by Hamas operatives.
At the UN this week, Israeli officials faced tough questions after the international body cited multiple reports alleging torture of Palestinian detainees, including children, since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“The committee has been deeply appalled by the description we have received, in a large number of alternative reports, of what appears to be systematic and widespread torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians, including children,” the body’s rapporteur, Peter Vedel Kessing, said.
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