Throughout the Gaza genocide, testimonies have documented the Israeli army’s use of Palestinian women as human shields. These are not isolated acts by rogue soldiers but a systematic practice known to Israeli commanders and acknowledged by soldiers.
ed note–despite what will doubtless be the involuntary and reflexive chirping and chattering on the part of all sorts of hasbaratchiks of every variety who will state that the info contained in the testimonies below is all the result of the ‘perversion’ of morals practised by the ‘new Jew’ that follows his/her ‘Zionism’ rather than the ‘holy’ teachings of his/her ‘authentic’ Judah-ism taught within the Torah, nothing could be further from the truth.
For thousands of years, LONG before there was this book known as the Talmud and LONG before the name ‘Theodor Herzl’ was a mere whisper in the mind of Lucifer, there was this thing known as Torah Judah-ism that not only permitted, but indeed, COMMANDED the forced sexual enslavement of non-Israelite women and little girls who were ‘captured’ in battle.
Therefore, given that this was the established religious practice according to the ‘Laws of Moses’, why then would women and children NOT be used as ‘human shields’ if indeed their status as forced sex slaves was already permitted and commanded?
By Majd Jawad
‘They forced me to carry a drone into seven houses to film them, making sure they were empty of people or military equipment. My infant cried for hours while waiting for me. I begged them to let me breastfeed her, but they refused, continuing to use me as a human shield,’ said Hazar Al-Sititi, 33, from Jenin refugee camp.
During the Israeli army’s ten-day siege of Jenin refugee camp in August 2024, terrorists from the IDF forced Al-Sititi to leave her six-month-old baby behind and carry out their orders.
‘They forced me to walk ahead of an infantry unit of about 30 soldiers, keeping a distance of ten meters between us. Then they ordered me to enter the houses, force the residents out, and film inside before the soldiers stormed in to arrest the young men they were after,’ Al-Sititi recalled.
This was not a random act by a rogue soldier. It reflects a systematic military practice, carried out with the knowledge of Israeli commanders, as admitted by soldiers in a previous Haaretz investigation. ‘In the army, they know this is not a one-time event by some young, foolish company commander acting on his own,’ one soldier told investigators.
Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, testimonies have emerged documenting the Israeli army’s use of Palestinian women as human shields, following specific established procedures designed to protect Israeli soldiers from danger during ground operations and incursions into Palestinian areas.
Choosing between my daughter and my life
‘That day, around 70 Israeli soldiers invaded the camp and besieged it. They arrested several young men before reaching my house. They blew up the door and shouted at my little daughter. Then they forced me to choose: either they take my daughter away from me, or I be used as a human shield,’ said Iman al-Amer, 41, from Jenin camp.
The soldiers ordered Iman to enter multiple houses, force residents outside, and to warn them that refusal on their part would result in them being shot.
This practice is part of what is known as the ‘Mosquito Protocol,’ an undeclared military procedure whereby detainees, deliberately held in the field rather than in Israeli prisons, are forced to carry out quick tasks at civilian or military sites before soldiers enter them.
Why women?
Israel’s use of Palestinian bodies as human shields has affected Palestinians of all ages and genders. Over decades of occupying Palestinian lands, Israel has targeted not only men but also children, the elderly, and women, both during major military operations and in everyday incursions.
Dr. Lina Meari, from the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Institute for Women’s Studies, explained, ‘Colonial powers’ view of gender issues is rigid and fixed, rooted in the belief that women are inherently weak and can be exploited as tools, through harassment or rape, or by using them to pressure resistant fighters into surrendering or carrying out military operations.’
She added, ‘Within this framework, the use of a woman’s body as a human shield can also be understood as a tactic to pressure resistant fighters not to use weapons against Israeli soldiers during military operations, given her ‘sensitive’ status.’
As the book Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire notes, the global attention on women and their rights paradoxically coincides with their exploitation as human shields. What was once socially ‘marginalized’, the use of women and children, has now become a strategic target.
During this current genocide, testimonies emerged of several Palestinian boys and girls who were used as human shields by the Israeli army.
Among them is the story of nine-year-old Malak Shahab, from Nur Shams camp in Tulkarem, who was violently kidnapped from her home and forced to serve as a human shield for the IDF.
According to Malak’s account, ‘The soldiers pushed me to every door of my aunt’s house, while they stood behind me, ready to open fire. When no one answered and in my deep despair at being forced to obey, I knocked on the door with my head.’
Forcible displacement as a strategy
‘They have used me as a human shield three times since my childhood. Each time, I carried out military tasks under threat, and each time, they demanded that I leave the camp afterward. Even if they used me a thousand times, I would still remain in my neighborhood,’ Hazar Al-Sititi said.
This act may indicate that these protocols go beyond being mere temporary military tactics, turning the Palestinian body and the individual into a target in itself. ‘Women have been used as human shields in Jabalia camp as part of a broader plan to empty the area of its residents,’ said Meari.
She added, ‘The Jews turn to women in moments when they cannot suppress resistance or protect themselves. Attacks in a place like Jabalia camp were unexpected, so the Israeli army used every available means, including human shields, to protect themselves.’
As part of its policy of forcibly displacing civilians since the first day of the genocide, the Israeli army, according to an investigation by the Hebrew site The Warmest Place in Hell, used an elderly couple as human shields to force them out of their home, after the couple said they could not walk to Khan Younis and had nowhere to go under the army’s evacuation orders.
Another investigation by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor identified the elderly couple as Maziyouna Abu Hussein and Muhammad Abu Hussein. They were forced to enter homes to verify that they were free of danger, and after completing the task, Israeli soldiers then murdered the husband and wife with gunfire.
The ‘Mosquito’ Protocol in Gaza
After his arrest in the Gaza Strip following October 7, 2023, Muhannad Wasfi was used as a human shield by the Israeli soldiers. ‘After 45 days in Israeli prisons, they transferred me to the southern part of the Strip to carry out a military mission, searching for tunnels inside houses. I searched through emptied homes, lifting carpets and moving furniture in search of an opening or a hole, but found nothing,’ Wasfi said.
He continued: ‘For the first time, I felt death was imminent. I had heard many stories of Palestinians being killed by soldiers even after completing the tasks forced on them. Each time I entered a room, I recited the shahada, as if it were my final breath.’
Muhannad’s testimony aligns with what is known as the ‘Wasp Protocol’, under which Palestinian prisoners and detainees are taken from Israeli prisons to active combat zones and used as human shields. Testimonies, including his, indicate that during tunnel-search operations, detainees were often forced to wear Israeli military uniforms, possibly to clear tunnel entrances of explosives if one was detected and detonated by fighters.
‘They dressed me in their uniform and placed a hat, a camera, and an audio device on my head. They blindfolded me, bound my hands, and ordered me to search the sites. They also interrogated and tortured me. One time, they stripped me naked, put me in a room, turned on the air conditioner, and played loud music in Hebrew until I partially lost my hearing,’ Wasfi said.
Nurse Hassan al-Ghoul from Gaza testified, ‘They forced me to wear a full military uniform, but without a weapon, and gave me a cutting tool and a flashlight. They told me we would storm Nasser Hospital and that I would enter first. They said there would be an opening they would point out to me, and above my head would be a drone they controlled, they told me, ‘so if you do anything, we can see and monitor you.’’
He continued: ‘They told me I would go to the hospital, and if I found any civilians, I should tell them to leave because the army was going to storm it. They ordered me to open any closed door and cut any gas cylinder that had a wire attached. I interrupted the soldier, saying, ‘Any gas cylinder with a wire could explode while I’m near it.’ He replied, ‘Let it explode; that’s why we sent you.’ I carried out the task under threat, at gunpoint.’