Report: IDF sending Gazan civilians to check tunnels, homes it fears might be booby-trapped

13 August 2024, 6:37 pm

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Palestinians seen with their belongings after evacuating from al-Jalaa in Khan Younis to the designated safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip, August 11, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Haaretz reports that the IDF has been using Palestinian civilians as human shields during operations in Gaza, ordering them to go into tunnels and homes that the army fears may be booby-trapped.

“It is better that they explode and not the soldiers,” one of the soldiers speaking to Haaretz recalls being told by his commander who justified the practice.

Haaretz says the IDF has not been using terror suspects, but rather innocent civilians who it detains specifically for this practice.

The report cites several soldiers who have witnessed the tactic regularly used in Gaza.

Haaretz says the practice has been used across Gaza in recent months, and senior officers, including the chief of staff, were aware.

In its response to the report, the IDF does not appear to deny that the practice is carried out. It says that such conduct is prohibited, that this was made clear to troops and that the allegations are under investigation.