Use of human shields by Hamas
Hamas' usage of civilians and civilian infrastructure for military purposes / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Many parties, including NATO, the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Israel, have accused Hamas of using human shields in the Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas has purposely attempted to shield itself from Israeli attacks by storing weapons in civilian infrastructure, launching rockets from residential areas, and telling residents to ignore Israeli warnings to flee.
Israel has accused Hamas of maintaining command and control bunkers and tunnel infrastructure below hospitals. Hamas has denied using civilians (including hospitals[1]) as human shields.[2] Scholars caution that accusing Hamas of using human shields requires proving intent.[3] Israel has said that Hamas's actions have caused Israel to kill civilians as collateral damage.[4] Human rights groups have said that “even if Hamas were using human shields”, Israel must still abide by international law, especially the principle of proportionality.[5][6]
Amnesty International investigated Israeli claims that Hamas used human shields during the 2008–2009 Gaza War and the 2014 Gaza War but found no evidence to support these claims. In their report on the 2008–2009 war, Amnesty stated they found no evidence of Hamas directing civilians to shield military assets or forcing them to stay near buildings used by fighters. They did find that Hamas launched rockets from civilian areas, which endangered civilians and violated the requirement to protect civilians from military action, but this does not qualify as shielding under international law.[7] In 2014, Amnesty reported they had no evidence that Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups intentionally used civilians as shields to protect specific locations or military assets from Israeli attacks. They suggested that Hamas's urging of residents to ignore Israeli evacuation warnings might have been intended to minimize panic and displacement, rather than to use civilians as human shields.[5] Human Rights Watch (HRW) also stated they found no evidence that Hamas used human shields during the 2009 conflict.[8]
During the Israel–Hamas war of 2023–2024, EU nations accused Hamas of using hospitals as human shields, while the UN Secretary General said "Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields".[9][10] In 2023, HRW said that "Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups need to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians under their control from the effects of attacks and not use civilians as 'human shields.'"[11] In 2024, Human Rights Watch reported at least two incidents where Palestinian fighters used Israeli hostages as human shields during the October 7 attacks.[12]