DayofPal– Two Palestinians from the Gaza Strip were killed in Israeli prisons after being taken as human shields by the Israeli occupation army in southern Gaza Strip battlefields, Haaretz newspaper reported.
41-year-old Gazan father Muneer Faqawi and his son Yassin were detained in April, 2024 from their home in Khan Younis’s Al-Amal Neighborhood during an Israeli ground invasion into the city. The two were interrogated before their children’s eyes then kidnapped to unknown destination.
Israeli soldiers after raiding the home told the family that there is no point in asking about the fate of their father and son, and this left the family in despair. When the family approached the Israeli coordination unit and asked about their fate, the unit claimed that there was no evidence of their detention.
Later, a human rights organization then appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, requesting that they be brought before the court. When the court made this request to the army, the response was, “After checking with the military authorities, it was confirmed the Faqawi men are not alive.”
The Faqawi family stated that one of the Gazan released prisoners informed the family that he was with their father and son on the day of their arrest, and that the army used both of them as human shields before releasing other detainees and keeping Al-Faqawi men. The family believed that Muneer and his son Yassin were detained in the Israeli Sde Teiman notorious prison.
An Israeli soldier and five former detainees told CNN that the Israeli army force Palestinians in Gaza to enter homes and booby-trapped tunnels in order to avoid putting their troops at risk. Previous reports have also mentioned same testimonies from released Gazan prisoners.
International law prohibits the use of civilians as human shields to protect military activities or the troops in battlefields.
An Israeli soldier stated to CNN that his army unit detained two Palestinian men to use them as human shields to explore dangerous areas, adding that this practice is widely used by the Israeli army units in Gaza.
The soldier continued, “We asked them to enter the building before us. If there were any traps, they would explode and protect us.”
According to CNN investigation findings, the “Mosquito Protocol” was widely spread across various parts of the Gaza Strip: in North Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Rafah.
CNN pointed out that interviews conducted with five former Palestinian detainees in Gaza were consistent with the soldier’s account, as all described how “the Israeli army detained civilians and forced them to enter potentially dangerous areas.”
A Palestinian young man also told CNN that he was forced to leave his home in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, then was abducted by the Israeli army near Rafah while attempting to obtain food supplies for his younger siblings.
He revealed that he was taken in a “military jeep” and later found himself “inside an army camp in Rafah,” adding that he was “held there for 47 days and was used during that time for reconnaissance missions to avoid putting Israeli soldiers at risk.”
CNN published the details he shared: “They dressed us in military uniforms, put a camera on us, and gave us a metal cutter,” he said, confirming that “they asked us to do things like roll up carpets to search for tunnels.”
According to the Palestinian young man, they also “asked us to remove items from the house, move the sofa, open the fridge, and open the cupboard, because they were afraid of hidden explosives.”
CNN pointed out that the abduction of Palestinians includes children and teenagers. Mohammad Shbeir, 17 years old, was arrested by the Israeli army after they killed his father and sister during a raid on their home in Khan Younis.
He uncovered that “I was handcuffed in underwear. They used me as a human shield, took me to demolished houses, and to places that could be dangerous or contain landmines.”
CNN noted that this “Mosquito Protocol” is widespread and usually used by the Israeli army, adding that “Breaking the Silence” organization, had provided it with three photos showing the Israeli army using Palestinians as human shields in Gaza.
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