Israeli Occupation Forces Still Use Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields, Al-Mizan Report

Mizan: IOF troops still use civilians as human shields

[ 18/06/2008 - 11:15 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Al-Mizan Center for Human Rights stated Tuesday that the IOF troops still flout the rules of international humanitarian law in their dealing with the Palestinian people, where they commit war crimes in the Gaza Strip and use civilians as human shields during their military operations.

In a report received by the PIC, the center reviewed part of the violations committed by the IOF troops such as turning houses into military barracks, confining the Palestinian families to one room and using them as human shields against any counterattacks.

The report said that the invading IOF troops force Palestinian citizens to work on their behalf such as making gaps in walls or removing floor tiles inside their houses to use them as barriers when they take vantage points at windows to shoot at anything moving in the invaded area.

The report pointed that these violations show that the IOF troops jeopardize the lives of civilians to secure their own safety, citing as evidence that the IOF troops used a Palestinian little girl called Rana Al-Nabheen as a human shield where she was exposed to Israeli gunfire when an Israeli officer forced her to walk without informing his troops that the girl was moving according to his orders.

The report also cited the positions of some international human rights organizations and Israeli institutions which confirmed, based on field information, that the IOF troops committed such violations.

In a new development, the number of the victims killed Tuesday by Israel air strikes on two cars in the Gaza Strip rose to six Palestinians after one of the wounded died of his serious injuries.

In another context, Palestinian medical sources stated Tuesday that the death of two Palestinian women suffering chronic diseases called Amina Mikat and Manal Awda raised the siege victims to 192 Palestinian patients so far.

The popular committee against the siege said that Mikat, an elderly woman, was suffering from a heart disease while Awda, 17, was a cancer patient, pointing out that they died after their attempts to ravel abroad for medical treatment were hindered by the Israeli restrictions; besides, their medication was not available in the Gaza Strip.

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