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According to NATO, the UN, EU, US, Israel, and a number of European countries, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups have deliberately employed Gaza's civilian population as human shields. This tactic includes launching rockets, positioning military-related infrastructure in civilian areas, and engaging the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from or near residential and commercial zones.

Over the years, Hamas has conveyed that it sees civilian casualties as both inevitable and a service to its cause. For example, in a 2014 televised interview, a senior spokesman for Hamas stated: "The policy of people confronting the Israeli warplanes with their bare chests in order to protect their homes has proven effective against the occupation… we in Hamas call upon our people to adopt this policy in order to protect the Palestinian homes."

Accusations of using human shields by Palestinian factions, including Hamas, has been raised during the 2008 and 2014 conflicts in Gaza, as well as in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. In the latter, Israel has offered evidence to support its allegations that Hamas placed parts of its command network and military tunnel systems under civilian infrastructure, including Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, and stored weapons under the Al-Rantisi Hospital. These reports were confirmed by the US Pentagon, but denied by Hamas. US President Joe Biden has also labelled Hamas usage of the Al-Shifa Hospital a "war crime". During the war, Hamas has reportedly attempted to discourage Palestinians from evacuating war zones, urging them to remain in place. A top Hamas official has also stated that it is not their responsibility to protect civilians.

The Israel Defence Forces has also reported finding weapons hidden in kindergartens.

According to a paper published by NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, the strategic use of human shields by groups like Hamas hinges on exploiting Israel's aim to minimize civilian casualties and the sensitivity of Western public opinion. This tactic allows Hamas to either accuse Israel of war crimes if civilian casualties occur or to protect its assets and continue operations if the IDF limits its military response. This approach is an example of 'lawfare', using legal and public platforms to challenge an adversary.

History

2008–2009 Gaza War

In a post-war analysis of the conflict, Amnesty International stated that: "Contrary to repeated allegations by Israeli officials of the use of “human shields", Amnesty International found no evidence that Hamas or other Palestinian fighters directed the movement of civilians to shield military objectives from attacks. It found no evidence that Hamas or other armed groups forced residents to stay in or around buildings used by fighters, nor that fighters prevented residents from leaving buildings or areas which had been commandeered by militants."

2014 Gaza War

Numerous reports during the 2014 Gaza War stated that Hamas used human shields. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accused Hamas militants of violating international humanitarian law by "locating rockets within schools and hospitals, or even launching these rockets from densely populated areas". The European Union condemned Hamas, and in particular condemned "calls on the civilian population of Gaza to provide themselves as human shields". In a September 2014 interview, a Hamas official acknowledged to Associated Press that the group fired at Israel from civilian areas. He ascribed the practice to "mistakes", but said the group had little option due to the crowded landscape of the Strip, with its dearth of open zones. He denied accusations that rockets were launched "from schools or hospitals when in fact they were fired 200 or 300 meters (yards) away". In a 2014 interview, a Hamas political leader Khaled Mashal said to a CNN interviewer that the group did not use its people as human shields.

In interviews with Gazan refugees, reporters for The Independent and The Guardian concluded it was a "myth" that Hamas forced civilians to stay in areas under attack against their will; many refugees told them they refused to heed the IDF's warnings because even areas Israel had declared safe for refugees had been shelled by its forces. The BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen also said he "saw no evidence of Hamas using Palestinians as human shields". An Amnesty International document (dated 25 July 2014) asserts that they do "not have evidence at this point 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". Amnesty International's assessment was that international humanitarian law was clear in that "even if officials or fighters from Hamas or Palestinian armed groups associated with other factions did in fact direct civilians to remain in a specific location in order to shield military objectives from attacks, all of Israel's obligations to protect these civilians would still apply". The human rights group, however, still found that Palestinian factions, as in previous conflicts, launched attacks from civilian areas.

Hamas Arabic-speaking spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called up Gaza civilians on Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV 8 July 2014 to stay put in areas under fire by Israel, prompting accusations from Israel and others – the European Union, for example – that Hamas was calling on people to volunteer as "in effect human shields". For Amnesty International, however, Hamas' call may have been "motivated by a desire to avoid further panic" among civilians, considering both the lack of shelters in Gaza and the fact that some civilians who heeded the IDF's warnings had been casualties of Israeli attacks. Abu Zuhri was also quoted as saying, in a 13 July interview, that "Hamas despise those defeatist Palestinians that criticize the high number of civilian casualties. The resistance praises our people... we lead our people to death…I mean, to war."

During the war, Israel also damaged hospitals, alleging they were concealing "hidden missiles". A team of Finnish journalists from Helsingin Sanomat working at the Gaza Al-Shifa hospital reported seeing rockets fired from near the Al-Shifa hospital. However, two Norwegian doctors who have been working at the hospital for decades have denied there was militant presence nearby, saying the last armed man they saw by the building was an Israeli doctor at the time of the First Intifada. In 2014, The Guardian journalists came across "armed men" inside one hospital, and sightings of "senior Hamas leaders" have been reported inside another. The Washington Post described Al-Shifa hospital as a "de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices". Nick Casey of The Wall Street Journal tweeted a photo of a Hamas official using Al-Shifa hospital for media interviews, but later deleted the tweet. French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagg reported being interrogated by an armed Hamas member inside Al-Shifa Hospital and ordered to leave Gaza.

The same organization asserted that "there was ample evidence to indicate that, in defiance of IDF rules, Israeli soldiers had used Palestinian civilians and children as shields to protect themselves" by sending Palestinians into homes where other militants were located and to encourage their surrender.

In 2015, The Washington Post said that an Amnesty International report condemned Palestinian militias for storing munitions in, and launching rockets from civilian structures and reported that the launching of attacks and storing of rockets "very near locations where hundreds of displaced civilians were taking shelter." The report stated "the available evidence indicates that Palestinian armed groups fired rockets and mortars from residential areas during the July/August 2014 conflict, and that on at least some occasions, projectiles were launched in close proximity to civilian buildings…significant areas within the 365km2 of territory are not residential, and conducting hostilities or launching munitions from these areas presents a lower risk of endangering Palestinian civilians…Palestinian armed groups stored rockets and other munitions in civilian buildings and facilities, including UN schools, during the conflict… storing munitions in civilian buildings or launching attacks from the vicinity of civilian buildings, violate the obligation to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of attacks. But they do not necessarily amount to the specific violation of using "human shields" under international humanitarian law, which entails “using the presence (or movements) of civilians or other protected persons to render certain points or areas (or military forces) immune from military operations." According to Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International, "evidence suggesting that a rocket launched by a Palestinian armed group may have caused 13 civilian deaths inside Gaza underscores how indiscriminate these weapons can be and the dreadful consequences of using them". He also stated that "the devastating impact of Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians during the conflict is undeniable, but violations by one side in a conflict can never justify violations by their opponents."

In 2019, a paper by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence said that Hamas "has been using human shields in conflicts with Israel since 2007".

2023 Israel–Hamas war

Israeli claims

External videos
Pentagon Spokesperson: Hamas has a command center under Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Israel stated that Hamas has strategically placed portions of its military tunnel system and command network beneath civilian infrastructure, including Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital. Video evidence from interrogations of two members of Hamas' armed wing appears to support the assertion that Hamas militants are using hospitals as a means of protection from IDF strikes.

The Israel Defence Forces has also reported finding weapons hidden in kindergartens.

On 13 November 2023, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari presented evidence to journalists indicating the presence of Hamas infrastructure at Al-Rantisi Hospital, a children hospital in Gaza. This evidence included a video showcasing explosives, suicide vests, and a motorcycle allegedly used in the attacks on 7 October, all hidden in a basement. Additionally, Hagari displayed footage of a deep shaft with a ladder, which he claimed was the entrance to a tunnel located adjacent to a school and a hospital. He described this tunnel as a "terror tunnel," underscoring its use for militant purposes.

Evidence collected by the IDF indicated that Hamas used school buildings to store military hardware, such as rockets, anti-tank missiles, launchers, and automatic rifles. These military storages were found in close proximity to functioning classrooms, suggesting a deliberate strategy of using civilian structures as shields.

On 16 November, the IDF soldiers released footage that it claimed showed Hamas rockets hidden inside a child's bed in Gaza, as well as an audio file that it claimed was a recording of a conversation between Hamas operatives discussing the transfer an anti-tank missiles in a baby carriage.

On 18 November CNN aired footage taken by the IDF showing what appears to be a person armed with an RPG launcher entering the premises of Al-Quds Hospital.

On 19 November the IDF released footage of an underground tunnel under al-Shifa, complete with a blast door.

Input from other parties

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed that he has intelligence indicating that Hamas is using the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for military purposes, possibly for weapon storage and also for holding captives. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that "you can see even from open-source reporting that Hamas does use hospitals, along with a lot of other civilian facilities, for command-and-control, for storing weapons, for housing its fighters... this is Hamas' track record, both historically and in this conflict". According to another US official, "Hamas has a command node under the Al-Shifa hospital, uses fuel intended for it and its fighters regularly cluster in and around ." The US assessment that Hamas and other Palestinian militants were operating within the Al-Shifa hospital included communication intercepts of fighters inside the complex.

A top Hamas official has stated that it is not their responsibility to protect civilians. Human Rights Watch called Hamas to protect civilians under their control and not use them as "human shields."

Media coverage

David Leonhard and Lauren Jackson of the New York Time write that "Hamas has hidden many weapons under hospitals, schools and mosques so that Israel risks killing civilians... Hamas fighters also slip above and below ground, blending with civilians". These practices, David French explains, "mean that Hamas is responsible for many of the civilian deaths". According to French, "deliberately putting military resources near civilians and disguising fighters as civilians are both violations of the laws of war." According to another New York Times report, "Hamas has used civilians as human shields and positioned underground bunkers, weapon depots and rocket launchers under or near schools, mosques and hospitals".

DW military analyst Frank Ledwidge has said that "it's been described... as 'common knowledge' that many of the headquarters are located under hospitals... entries and exits in places like mosques or schools... UN facilities... that's why we've seen... so many non-combatant casualties so far".

John Spencer has said that " built many of their tunnel entrances and exits and passageway underneath protected sites like hospitals, schools, mosques, because it restricts the use of force that the IDF can take without going through the... laws of war calculation.

According to Daphne Richemond-Barak, associate professor of counter-terrorism at Reichman University and author of the 2017 book Underground Warfare, Hamas militants operate under Al-Shifa Hospital gain "the highest level of protection available under the laws of war", as well as a "unique opportunity to operate far from surveillance drones, GPS, and other intelligence-gathering technology". She added that "in Gaza, tunnels are dug in civilian homes, pass under entire neighbourhoods, and lead into populated areas inside Israel... enables Hamas to conceal entry and exit points, and facilitates undetected movement and activity."

Avi Issacharoff has said that Hamas militants are "under the houses and neighborhoods of Gaza City, hoping that Israel won’t attack them because they’re hiding underneath human shields, and that if Israel will attack those neighborhoods, it’ll kill many civilians, and the whole world is going to accuse Israel for war crimes". "The sad thing about all this", Issacharoff said, "is Hamas doesn’t care about their own people" and aims "not only to kill Israelis but for as many Palestinian civilians ".

While embedded with an IDF unit, reporter Paul Nuki witnessed "gun and mortar fire coming from the Indonesian Hospital", which by then appeared to have been emptied of patients and only used by Hamas.

According to Haaretz's Ronny Linder, "evidence accumulating since the war’s onset indicates that Al-Shifa has become the central headquarters for the Hamas leadership's activity". Writing on the human cost of the war, defense analyst Amos Harel commented that "the people who spent 15 years building an underground fighting complex beneath the homes of two million human beings should have taken this into account... Hamas leaders appear to have ignored the predictable consequences, or else they simply didn't care."

In an interview to CNN, Wesley Clark stated that Hamas has "deliberately cynically located its most valuable assets in a hospital... to try and provoke outrage in the world community and discredit Israel". He added that "Hamas... wants these civilians to be at risk".

International reactions

US President Joe Biden stated that Hamas was using innocent Palestinians as human shields and emphasized the need to protect them." US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, called on Hamas to stop using civilians as human shields. Secretary-General of the UN Antonio Guterres has also stated that Hamas and other Palestinian factions have been using civilians as human shields.

During a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East held on 24 October 2023, UK Minister of State for Security, Tom Tugendhat, asserted, "We know that Hamas are using innocent Palestinian civilians as human shields; they have embedded themselves in civilian communities." Germany's Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, said: “We must not be fooled by Hamas’ playbook,” and emphasizing “their use of women and children in Gaza as human shields, and their hiding of weapons under supermarkets, apartment blocks, and even hospitals.” Philippe Kridelka, Jean Asselborn, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, representing Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ukraine, respectively, also expressed condemnation for Hamas's use of civilians as human shields.

On 13 November 2023, 27 European Union nations jointly condemned Hamas for the use of hospitals and civilians as human shields.

Response by Hamas

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook stated that the tunnels constructed by Hamas were built to safeguard and shelter Hamas militants, not civilians, also declaring that the duty to protect Gaza's civilian population rests with the UN and Israel.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh stated: "We need the blood of women, children, and the elderly of Gaza... so as to awaken our revolutionary spirit."

Analysis

Strategy

According to a paper published by NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, the tactical deployment of human shields by entities such as Hamas strategically capitalizes on Israel's commitment to reducing unintended civilian harm and the heightened sensitivity of Western audiences to non-combatant casualties. This approach enables Hamas to potentially charge Israel with war crimes when civilian casualties increase due to intensified actions by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), potentially leading to international sanctions. On the other hand, should the IDF restrain its military engagements to minimize civilian casualties, Hamas gains an advantage, being less exposed to Israeli military strikes and able to safeguard its resources and continue its activities. Moreover, the issue of civilian casualties often creates internal debates within Israeli society, especially between the left-wing, who may critique the operation's consequences, and right-wing factions.

Seen as a form of 'lawfare', according to NATO, this strategy is about leveraging legal frameworks and public sentiment against an adversary, aiming to undermine their legitimacy, engage their resources in legal battles, or secure a victory in the court of public opinion.

Legal status

All combatants, including insurgents, are bound by the law of war. Louis René Beres has analyzed the placing of military assets amid Palestinian civilian populations, categorizing it as a clear and punishable crime under international law. Placing military assets or personnel amid civilian populations is considered an act of perfidy, described as a "grave breach" in Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and forbidden by the Hague Regulations. Additionally, Protocol I of 1977, supplementing the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, contains related prohibitions on perfidy. These regulations are enforced not only through the mentioned treaties but also via customary international law, as indicated by Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. A, as underlined in Article 3, shared across the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.

See also

• Human rights in the State of Palestine
• Hamas Charter
• War crimes in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• Criticism of Hamas
• Children in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

References

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• Hamas
• Palestinian war crimes
• 2023 Israel–Hamas war
• 2014 Gaza War
• Law of war
• Human rights abuses in the State of Palestine
• Human shield incidents