– At first we thought that this was an isolated case, but gradually we understood that this was a widespread practice and guidance from the top, says Nadav Weiman to news. Palestinian prisoners in Gaza are forced to dress up in IDF uniforms, and ask to enter the most dangerous areas of the Gaza Strip. According to soldiers who have spoken to the organization Breaking The Silence and the newspaper Haaretz, these should be instructions from the leadership of the Israeli Defense Forces. On August 18, a building is blown up in Khan Younis on the Gaza Strip. Photo: BASHAR TALEB / AFP Weiman was formerly a sharpshooter in the Gaza Strip for the Israeli Defense Forces, and is now the leader of Breaking the Silence. “Our lives are more important than theirs”, an anonymous ex-soldier told the organisation. Together with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, they have spoken to ex-soldiers in Gaza who say that it is widespread practice in the Israeli defense to use Palestinian civilians as shields. Was a sharpshooter in Gaza It is twelve years since Nadav Weiman was a sharpshooter for the Israeli Defense Forces. Breaking the Silence consists of ex-soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces who collect soldiers’ experiences in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. At the same time, they opposed the Israeli occupation. Nadav Weiman worked in the Israeli Defense Forces 12 years ago. Now he is working to find out what is happening inside the IDF. Photo: Eirik Pessl-Kleiven / news After the war between Hamas and Israel flared up after 7 October, they began to hear stories from soldiers in Gaza and the West Bank about the IDF using Palestinian civilians as human shields. When they looked more closely at it, they understood that these had to be instructions from the defense itself because it happened in several places on the Gaza Strip and in different parts of the defense. – Palestinians are taken from the humanitarian corridors. In some cases, they are dressed in military uniform, and some are seen with cameras on their heads, explains Weiman. Nadav Weiman on a trip to a settlement in the middle of the Palestinian city of Hebron. Here he is met by some angry settlers in 2017. Photo: AMIR COHEN / Reuters – They are then sent in to investigate tunnels or buildings that the IDF believes may be a trap. According to the organisation, they are held in captivity for perhaps a few days or weeks. When the IDF has finished with them, they are sent back to their families. – One of the soldiers said that since they sent them back afterwards, they knew they were not Hamas or jihadists. Otherwise, they would have arrested them, says Weiman. Was previously an official command Weiman says that this was a public guidance from the Israeli Defense Forces in the past. He called it the “Neighbor procedure”. The Supreme Court in Israel put a stop to this back in 2005. – It turned out that if you were going to arrest someone, you would rather use a Palestinian neighbor, for example, to knock on or enter the house so that they were sure that they could go in afterwards. But the fact that it is happening in Gaza now is something completely different, he says. – This is the first time we have heard of civilian military uniforms being used. I was quite frankly surprised. One of the soldiers who has spoken to Breaking to Silence had asked his commander why they are doing this, he says. – He then replied that it was because they were empty of dogs, and it is better that Palestinians are killed than they themselves. This photo was taken by the Israeli defense on 18 August and is supposed to show the defense inside the Gaza Strip. Photo: – / AFP – This goes against everything I learned as a soldier in the special unit in the defense, or just as an ordinary Israeli. Soldiers must fight against other soldiers, no one else, says the former sharpshooter. He tells of a time when, as a soldier, he had to arrest a man on Vestbreidda. They went through tight alleys and they were outnumbered. The Palestinian was seen handcuffed and blindfolded. Another soldier pointed the M16 rifle at him and let him go out first through the darkness back to the car. – He was a shield for us. I remember so well the temper and quarrels in retrospect. This was not legal and it was completely wrong, says Weiman. – Obvious war crimes – If it is true that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is using Palestinian prisoners as human shields in Gaza, it is a serious and obvious war crime, says Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. – Norway condemns the use of human shields, whether it is Hamas or the IDF who are responsible, he adds. Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says that Norway condemns the use of human shields. Photo: Hanna Johre / news – When Israeli soldiers use the enemy’s population to protect themselves against attacks on the enemy, they use people with immunity to increase their own military advantage, says international law expert Cecilie Hellestveit. Hellestveit believes this cannot be equated with Hamas using its “own” civilian population to increase the political costs for Israel with attacks there. Cecilie Hellestveit is an expert in international law. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / news – If Israeli soldiers use Palestinians with the status of war victims as shields against Palestinian attacks, it is clearly illegal, and in most cases it will be a war crime. The IDF writes in a comment to news that the orders and directives from the IDF prohibit the use of civilians from Gaza who are prisoners for military missions that put them in danger, and that this has been clarified with those on the ground. – The claims in this article were forwarded to be examined by the relevant governing authorities. Published 20.08.2024, at 21.37
ttn-69
Ex-soldiers say that Israel uses Palestinians as human shields – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
