Where are you getting your information on Human Shields? Israel makes that claim a lot, for justification of astonishingly high civilian casualties. Yet if you consider independent sources such as human rights organizations and their investigations, it does not paint the same picture. Yet, even if all the Israeli claims about human shields were true, that does not mean they get a pass on international law.
Hamas member, Ghazi Hamad on October 24, 2023: “Israel is a country that has no place on our land […] because it constitutes a security, military, and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation.” (October 24, 2023, LBC TV (Lebanon)). He also vowed to repeat the October 7 attacks “time and again until Israel is annihilated,” and expressing a desire to “sacrifice martyrs” (referring to Gazan civilians) for Hamas’
I learned about how Hamas using civilian positions from John Spencer.
John Spencer is an award-winning scholar, professor, author, and combat veteran. He currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project podcast. He is also a founding member of the International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare. John served 25 years in the U.S. Army, having held ranks from Private to Sergeant First Class and Second Lieutenant to Major. He was an active duty Army officer during two combat tours in Iraq.
The ADL is a Zionist organization and conflates anti-zionism and antisemitism, it’s unsurprising they provide no context and intentionally ignore historical facts that go against Zionism.
John Spencer is also not without bias. He works for the state department. I won’t say all his work is bad, he has some comprehensive works such as The Mini-manual for the Urban Defender. But he does a very bad job on the Israel-Palestine conflict, because his position is the same as the US State Department, aligned with Israeli military Interests. The misinformation is blatant and not that difficult to debunk when you look for confirmation from historians and human rights organizations.
Have you read the reports by human rights organizations or books by new Historians on the subject? Because they have done on-the-ground investigations. They have a higher standard due to independent verifications from other human rights orgs and Historians respectively. This has been an apartheid for generations.
Where are you getting your information on Human Shields? Israel makes that claim a lot, for justification of astonishingly high civilian casualties. Yet if you consider independent sources such as human rights organizations and their investigations, it does not paint the same picture. Yet, even if all the Israeli claims about human shields were true, that does not mean they get a pass on international law.
The only independent verification back in 2014 (Amnesty link) is of Weapons (not rockets) hidden at a vacant school, situated btwn 2 UNRWA schools housing displaced people, by a Palestinian armed group.
The Guardian journalists had encountered a couple individuals in 2014 too.
HRW on Laws-of-War Violations 2009
Amnesty on Hamas War Crimes 2023
Yet none of those come remotely close to making hospitals and schools bombing targets. Even if all the IDF claims were true, that does not exempt those hospitals and schools as protected under international law.
Additionally, let’s look at how the IDF uses Human Shields including Children (2013 Report), because the IDF use of human shields is well documented.
Hamas member, Ghazi Hamad on October 24, 2023: “Israel is a country that has no place on our land […] because it constitutes a security, military, and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nation.” (October 24, 2023, LBC TV (Lebanon)). He also vowed to repeat the October 7 attacks “time and again until Israel is annihilated,” and expressing a desire to “sacrifice martyrs” (referring to Gazan civilians) for Hamas’
https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/hamas-its-own-words
I learned about how Hamas using civilian positions from John Spencer. John Spencer is an award-winning scholar, professor, author, and combat veteran. He currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project, and host of the Urban Warfare Project podcast. He is also a founding member of the International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare. John served 25 years in the U.S. Army, having held ranks from Private to Sergeant First Class and Second Lieutenant to Major. He was an active duty Army officer during two combat tours in Iraq.
The ADL is a Zionist organization and conflates anti-zionism and antisemitism, it’s unsurprising they provide no context and intentionally ignore historical facts that go against Zionism.
John Spencer is also not without bias. He works for the state department. I won’t say all his work is bad, he has some comprehensive works such as The Mini-manual for the Urban Defender. But he does a very bad job on the Israel-Palestine conflict, because his position is the same as the US State Department, aligned with Israeli military Interests. The misinformation is blatant and not that difficult to debunk when you look for confirmation from historians and human rights organizations.
Have you read the reports by human rights organizations or books by new Historians on the subject? Because they have done on-the-ground investigations. They have a higher standard due to independent verifications from other human rights orgs and Historians respectively. This has been an apartheid for generations.