DayofPal– The Israeli army has employed various military protocols to exterminate Gaza population since the onset of the Israeli genocide, started last year, amid ongoing international inaction and unwavering US support.
Israel’s campaign of extermination has so far resulted in over 143,500 Palestinian casualties, mostly children and women, with more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that have killed dozens of children and the elderly, marking one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
Tel Aviv continues its extermination, ignoring the UN Security Council’s decision to cease hostilities immediately and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent genocide and improve the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Mosquito, Wasp, Suburb, Fire Belt, Hannibal—these are the names of military protocols frequently used by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Despite their different names, the goal of all types of the protocols remains the same: the annihilation of Palestinians.
The announced and unannounced military protocols used by Israel for the genocide in Gaza confirm, through the statements of military personnel and Israeli officials, that these actions are intentional and align with Tel Aviv’s objectives.
Mosquito Protocol
Although the international law prohibits the use of civilians as human shields or forcing them to participate in wars, the Israeli army has used Palestinian civilians in Gaza, whom they arrested during the war, as human shields to enter areas that were potentially booby-trapped.
An Israeli soldier told CNN in an interview that the Israeli army has been accustomed of using the “Mosquito Protocol” against Gaza people during their ground operations in specific areas.
The soldier explained on October 24 that during his military service, a senior Israeli officer brought two detained Palestinians, aged 16 and 20, and instructed the soldiers to use them as human shields before entering some buildings.
This accusation by the Israeli soldier was confirmed by the two Palestinians, Mohammed Shbeir, 16, and Mohammed Saad, 20, who were used by the soldiers as human shields, according to CNN.
This was not the first time media had documented the use of the “Mosquito Protocol” in Gaza. On October 12, the New York Times also reported, citing soldiers and Israeli officials, that the army used Palestinians as human shields.
The newspaper confirmed that at least 11 military teams composed of soldiers and Israeli intelligence agents had used Palestinians as human shields in five cities in the Gaza Strip.
Five days after NYT’s report, the United States described the incidents mentioned in the report as “extremely troubling and absolutely unacceptable,” should they be true.
Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the US State Department stated that Washington finds an investigation by Israeli authorities into these allegations “perfectly appropriate.”
On August 14, 2024, Haaretz reported that an Israeli soldier serviced in Gaza war stated that his commanders said the use of Palestinians as human shields was due to a “shortage of trained dogs, many of which were killed or injured in the war or discharged from service.”
Wasp Protocol
Using civilians as human shields also includes detainees who were moved by the Israeli army into Gaza to force them to perform dangerous tasks that military personnel could not carry out. These operations are referred to as the “Wasp Protocol.”
The New York Times and other US media reported on October 16, 2024 that the “Wasp Protocol” often refers to Palestinian prisoners being brought from Israeli prisons by Israeli intelligence officers to Gaza to perform short and specific tasks.
Two days after the NYT report, Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, cautioned of the imminent danger to the lives of thousands of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, stating that they are at risk of death due to various violations.
Fares accused the Israeli army of using Palestinian prisoners as human shields in preparation for their execution so that their stories will be buried with them, describing this violation as “a first-degree unethical act.”
According to prisoner advocacy organizations, since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinian detainees has surpassed 11,400 from the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Precise numbers of detainees from Gaza remain elusive, shrouded in a veil of Israeli censorship and enforced disappearances.
Despite the documentation of Israel’s use of the “Mosquito” and “Wasp” protocols during the genocidal campaign in Gaza, Israeli officials deny the validity of these reports, labeling them as “false claims”.
Suburb Protocol
The Israeli army has further employed an additional military protocol in Gaza known as the “Superb Protocol” with the aim to enhance the genocide and widespread destruction.
This protocol entails the use of excessive force, the killing of civilians, and the destruction of infrastructure to pressure Palestinian fighters to surrender and shift the balance of war.
Israel first implemented this protocol during the war in Lebanon in 2006, naming it after the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are home to Hezbollah. It has since been used in its subsequent wars in Gaza and the West Bank.
As of mid-2024, the destruction of urban areas and housing in the Gaza governorate was estimated at 80%, with infrastructure damage reaching 90%.
In the northern Gaza governorate, urban destruction was estimated at 95%, with infrastructure damage at 100%, according to UN figures.
Fire Belt Protocol
Alongside with the Suburb protocol, which Israel claims it is a “legitimate tactic to deter future attacks,” the army has employed a similar protocol known in the media as the “Fire Belt.”
The Israeli military defines the “Fire Belt” as intensive and simultaneous airstrikes aimed at multiple targets in the same area to tighten the noose around it and limit resistance ability to respond, according to the BBC.
On October 23, 2024, the BBC reported that Israel uses this protocol against fighters, military equipment, and strategic buildings to pave the way for its ground forces to enter an area or uses it as a distraction tactic.
Over the past year, the Israeli army used the same consistent protocol in various areas of the Gaza Strip, with one of the latest instances reported by Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bsal on October 20, 2024.
Bsal stated that the Israeli occupation forces targeted a residential block in the Beit Lahiya project northern Gaza Steip, resulting in 73 martyrs, along with dozens of wounded and missing.
This was also echoed by activist Hussam Abu Rayya in an interview with the BBC’s Gaza Today on July 6, 2024, where he said, “I was shocked when I saw the fire belt; my house was right in front of me, and I couldn’t reach it.”
Hannibal Protocol
Israeli protocols during the genocide in Gaza also included deliberately striking Palestinian captors with heavy weapons, even if it meant killing Israeli prisoners. This is known as the “Hannibal Protocol.”
This protocol was officially adopted in 2006 and resurfaced after Palestinian factions captured dozens of Israelis, including high-ranking military personnel, during the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7, 2023.
A report by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, issued on June 12, accused the Israeli army of using the “Hannibal Protocol” multiple times in Gaza.
The report referenced claims of the “Hannibal Protocol” being used during an event at Nova near Gaza on October 7, 2023, which involved Israeli helicopters firing at civilian vehicles, resulting in Israeli casualties.
On the same day, an Israeli tank shelled the home of a settler in the Be’eri settlement adjacent to Gaza, leading to Israeli deaths, according to a report by the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz on January 8.
Hebrew media reports revealed that the army fired a tank shell at the home of an Israeli family while they were being held by Palestinian fighters on October 7, resulting in the deaths of the fighters and 12 Israelis.
The Israeli government insists on denying all allegations of using this protocol, describing the committee that prepared the UN report on June 15 as “biased and tainted with a clear anti-Israel agenda.”
On October 10, 2024, American journalist Max Blumenthal told Anadolu Agency, “Western media did not address the orders given by Israel on October 7 to kill its citizens and soldiers who were taken captives.
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