The right-wing Israeli government has repeatedly claimed the civilians killed by their forces during the war were a result of Hamas using human shields, defined under international law as Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operation. No eyewitnesses in the Gaza Strip during the war found any evidence of this, however. For example, in a July 24 New York Times article on the question, their reporters in Gaza noted, There is no evidence that Hamas and other militants force civilians to stay in areas that are under attack. Similarly, on July 25, Amnesty International noted that they had no evidence that Palestinian civilians have been intentionally used by Hamas or Palestinian armed groups during the current hostilities to shield specific locations or military personnel or equipment from Israeli attacks. Preliminary investigations by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and others - while noting that Hamas had illegally engaged in hostilities in close proximity to civilian populated areas and had stored weaponry in unoccupied homes and schools - has subsequently found no evidence that Hamas had actually engaged in the actions meeting the widely-accepted legal definition of human shields.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:37:07 +0000
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