this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2025

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In Gaza, almost every IDF platoon keeps a human shield, a sub-army of Palestinian slaves (www.haaretz.com)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In Gaza, human shields are used by Israeli soldiers at least six times a day.

I served in Gaza for nine months, and first came across these procedures, called "mosquito protocol" in December 2023. It was only two months into the ground offensive, long before there was a shortage of dogs from the IDF's canine unit, Oketz, who were used for this purpose. This became the insane, unofficial excuse for this insane, unofficial procedure. I didn't realize then how ubiquitous using human shields, whom we referred to as a "shawish," would become.

Today, almost every platoon keeps a "shawish," and no infantry force enters a house before a "shawish" clears it. This means there are four "shawishes" in a company, twelve in a battalion, and at least 36 in a brigade. We operate a sub-army of slaves.

I recently saw that the IDF's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened six investigations into the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and my jaw dropped. I've seen cover-ups before, but this is a new low.

If the MPCID wanted to do its job seriously, it would have to open far more than even a thousand investigations. But all the MPCID wants is for us to be able to tell ourselves and the world that we're investigating ourselves, so they've found six scapegoats and are pinning it all on them.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago

Israel is a terrorist state.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

When an IMAX technician is in a projection contest but their opponent is the IDF

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

The usual for the "world's most moral army".

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 days ago

We’ve known about this disgusting policy for years. It’s a war crime. Anyone who complains about hostages has to condemn this in order to be taken seriously or should shut up forever.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago

With Israel every accusation is an admission

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's getting harder and harder to see these IDF monsters as human.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Never dehumanize your enemy. No matter how much of a monster they are. Realize that they are human, and doing this, and that is why it is terrible.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

That's why I said "getting harder and harder".
At the least they have lost their humanity.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 2 days ago (2 children)

IDF are akin to Nazi soldiers. They and their leadership deserve the same punishments as was meted out at the end of WWII. “Just following orders” is not a legal justification for war crimes. You have a legal obligation to not follow unlawful orders.

Kill your leaders if it means that’s the only way to not commit war crimes. Why this isn’t a widely adopted belief is a testament to why humanity is a lost cause.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 23 hours ago

Nah, they deserve worse. The Nazis didn't get punished, they got jobs. A few figureheads got the chopping block but most of the actual torturers, rapists, murderers, kidnappers got away scot-free west of the Berlin wall. The US is already doing what they did to the Nazis, shower them with money, find them jobs they need such monsters for.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 days ago

You're insulting the nazis here

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago

Every israel accusation is a confession.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

For other people who didn't know what Haaretz was:

Haaretz (Hebrew: הָאָרֶץ, lit. 'The Land [of Israel]'; originally Ḥadshot Haaretz – Hebrew: חַדְשׁוֹת הָאָרֶץ, IPA: [χadˈʃot haˈʔaʁets], lit. 'News of the Land [of Israel]') is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew and English in the Berliner format, and is also available online. In North America, it is published as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week. Haaretz is Israel's newspaper of record. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues.

As of 2022, Haaretz has the third-largest circulation in Israel. It is widely read by international observers, especially in its English edition, and discussed in the international press. According to the Center for Research Libraries, among Israel's daily newspapers, "Haaretz is considered the most influential and respected for both its news coverage and its commentary."

Wikipedia | Haaretz

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

archived

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago

This needs to become common knowledge.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Humans are so cruel it's mind boggling.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 days ago (1 children)

*colonizers

it’s not a human thing, it’s a colonizer thing

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

yeah what a weird thing to say. the palestinians must not be human I guess.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

what are you talking about? Palestinians are not colonizers, israelis are

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I was talking about the comment you responded to. seeing colonizers kill and torture innocent civilians and calling "humans" cruel is either both sidesing a genocide or not counting the victims humans in the first place, because they're obviously not being cruel here.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago

oooh sorry I misread you 😅

but yea you’re right, it’s really gross

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

it makes me wonder if things will ever improve.

[+] [email protected] -11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Author: "Anonymous"

Peak journalism

[–] [email protected] 4 points 23 hours ago

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/14/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-military-human-shields.html

After Israeli soldiers found Mohammed Shubeir hiding with his family in early March, they detained him for roughly 10 days before releasing him without charge, he said.

During that time, Mr. Shubeir said, the soldiers used him as a human shield.

Mr. Shubeir, then 17, said he was forced to walk handcuffed through the empty ruins of his hometown, Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, searching for explosives set by Hamas. To avoid being blown up themselves, the soldiers made him go ahead, Mr. Shubeir said.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/middleeast/israel-gaza-human-shields-investigation-intl/index.html

In an interview with CNN late last year, an Israeli soldier said his unit had forced a Palestinian man to enter a building ahead of troops...

The exact scale and scope of the practice by the Israeli military is not known. But the testimony of both the soldier and five civilians last year indicated that it was widespread across the territory: in northern Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah.

One of the civilians, Mohammad Saad, age 20, told CNN that IDF soldiers had detained him in Rafah.

“They would ask us to do things like, ‘move this carpet,’ saying they were looking for tunnels,” he said. “‘Film under the stairs,’ they would say. If they found something, they would tell us to bring it outside. For example, they would ask us to remove belongings from the house, clean here, move the sofa, open the fridge, and open the cupboard.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/israeli-soldier-palestinians-human-shields-gaza/

Tommy [an anonymized name] said his commander ordered his unit to use Gazan civilians to search buildings for explosives instead of dogs....

Breaking the Silence has acted as a watchdog body over the Israeli military for more than 20 years. It said it had corroborated Tommy's account with other soldiers.

Multiple eyewitness accounts from both sides, and stories from anonymous sources match up with each other, as well as with stories of named sources.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I mean, the author probably has realistic concerns about their own safety concerning the Israeli public's opinion on the war and their government's attitude towards journalists.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 day ago

If you don't want to be a journalist, don't be a journalist. As far as we know a random idiot feom 4chan could've written that article

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Are there any other sources that you may know about this? This is a huge claim and one that we would benefit to have more of, as far as it can be backed up from multiple sources.

Anyone have say, video of this?

Edit: Literally, why am I getting downvoted? Because I ask for extra proof for my own sake, which is the reasonable thing to do? Relax. No wonder some people think that some on our side are crazy.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yes, plenty of video and other sources

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p3u7yHo4gg

other source:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israeli-soldier-palestinians-human-shields-gaza/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.