IDF used human shields
[let’s see if this makes it in to the US press]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6432133.stm
Israeli army ‘used human shields’ By Katya Adler BBC News, Jerusalem
An Israeli human rights group has accused Israel’s army of using two
young Palestinians as human shields during a recent raid in the West
Bank.
The B’Tselem group said it had testimony from a 15-year-old boy, his
24-year-old cousin and also an 11-year-old boy.
They said soldiers had forced them at gunpoint to enter houses ahead
of the troops during the raid in Nablus.
The use of human shields is illegal under Israeli and international law.
The Israeli defence force says it is investigating the allegations.
‘Knowingly exposed’
The Israeli army occupied the Kasbah, or old town, in Nablus for five
days at the end of last month. It said it was hunting for militants
and their weapons.
Soldiers conducted house-to-house searches. They imposed a two-day
curfew on tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
Amid Omeira, aged 15, told B’Tselem that a group of soldiers used the
barrels of their rifles to force him to enter a number of houses
ahead of them.
His 24-year-old cousin Samah told the group and the BBC of a similar
experience, as did Jihan Dadush, aged 11.
From their testimonies, B’Tselem says it believes the Israeli
soldiers knowingly exposed Samah and the two children to danger as
they expected to find armed men in the houses.
B’Tselem has accused Israel’s military authorities of not adequately
informing soldiers about both Israeli and international laws which
prohibit using civilians as human shields.
B’Tselem says the delay in investigating similar alleged incidents in
the past suggests a leniency in the army’s attitude towards soldiers
who use civilians in this way.