Israel’s military police have launched an investigation into multiple cases where Israeli forces deliberately forced Palestinian civilians in Gaza to act as human shields, exposing them to life-threatening danger in blatant violation of international law.
The investigation was ordered by Israel's military prosecutor a few weeks ago following mounting pressure from human rights groups and a January report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which found credible evidence of at least nine testimonies from Palestinians who were coerced into life-threatening military tasks.
The probe, which will only look into six cases, follows earlier revelations by Haaretz, which the Israeli army's use of human shields in August 2024.
The report detailed testimonies from Israeli soldiers who said Palestinians - referred to internally as "shawishim" (a derogatory term meaning servants or slaves - were forced to conduct dangerous tasks during Israel's devastating war on Gaza.
Testimonies revealed that the Israeli army had dressed unarmed Palestinian civilians in Israeli military uniforms and ordered them to scan tunnels, inspect suspected Hamas sites, and even plant explosives in Gaza's infrastructure - all without protective gear or training.
Civilians were often detained in harsh conditions before being sent on these dangerous missions.
Despite the revelations, Haaretz reported on Monday that Israeli forces had continued using this practice well into January.
In one recent account reported by the daily, a witness recalled the casual brutality with which Palestinian civilians were treated.
"You can just go up to them and beat them senseless," one soldier said, describing the treatment of those forced to carry out these tasks.
The Israeli military's use of Palestinian human sheilds reportedly increased after several detection dogs were killed, and combat engineers specialising in explosives were redeployed to Lebanon, prompting the army to rely on Palestinian civilians for dangerous search operations.
"Sometimes the 'shawishim' were required to ensure that there were no terrorists or IEDs in Hamas tunnels, and in some cases - according to testimonies - they planted explosives to blow up infrastructure in Gaza, without protection or basic knowledge of IEDs," Haaretz reported.
The use of civilians as human shields is a flagrant violation of international law and constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
Israel is already being investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity in a case brought forward by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its devastating assault on Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are also facing arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their alleged roles in crimes committed during the war.