Palestinian used as human shield shot dead by Israeli commander in Gaza

JERUSALEM

An Israeli army commander shot dead a Palestinian man used as a human shield in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to Israeli media on Wednesday.

The Palestinian was forced to serve as a human shield by Israeli army forces to search buildings in Khan Younis when he was shot to death by an army commander, said the Hebrew-language independent investigative journalism website, "The Hottest Place in Hell."

As the Palestinian was permitted to be in the area, a commander in the army’s Nahal Brigade arrived, identified the man as Palestinian, took out a rifle, and shot him dead.

The report suggested that the army commander did not know that the Palestinian man was authorized to be inside the building being searched.

The Israeli army confirmed the killing and launched an investigation into the incident.

“The incident was investigated by the brigade commander, and the findings have been implemented during troops' current operations,” it said in a statement.

In August, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the Israeli army has used Palestinians as human shields for soldiers to search buildings before entering them in Gaza.

"Our lives are more important than their lives," soldiers were told.

For a long time, the Israeli army has used Palestinians as human shields during its military operations in the occupied territories, in a policy named "the neighbor procedure," which was first implemented in 2002 in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army has continued a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed almost 46,000 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar