Israeli soldiers use of Palestinian youth as human shields

The videos and commentary below are from the Electronic Intifada

 Video: Israeli soldiers use handcuffed Palestinian teen as human shield as they fire at protestors Primary tabs View published(active tab) Metrics Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Fri, 04/19/2013 - 21:36 اختطاف فتى و تعذيبه و استخدامه درع بشري Israeli soldiers used a handcuffed Palestinian teenager as a human shield as they fired at protestors in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Dis on Friday. The incident was witnessed by independent journalist Huthifa Jamous who took photographs. Jamous also posted video footage of the incident on his Facebook page that was shot by Twitter user @Kate_Arno. Jamous told The Electronic Intifada by telephone that the incident occurred during a protest in solidarity with hunger striking prisoner Samer Issawi in the village which is adjacent to occupied Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem Media Center, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on protestors using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets and youths responded with stones and empty bottles.

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The use of any person as a human shield, especially a prisoner, is a serious war crime, but as B’Tselem reports, Israeli occupation forces have a long history of engaging in this barbaric practice. In February, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section reported another case where Israeli soldiers kidnapped and then used nine-year-old Mustafa Wahdan as a human shield during a protest near Ofer Prison, where many Palestinian political prisoners are detained. Because of the near-total impunity Israeli soldiers enjoy for crimes against Palestinians, soldiers are rarely held to account. In one of the very rare cases were action was taken, two soldiers were tried for using Majid Rabah, then aged nine, as a human shield during Israel’s 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza. The soldiers were found guilty but given a symbolic sentence.