Human Rights in The Palestinian National Authority - Exposure of Civilian Targets To Military Action

Exposure of Civilian Targets To Military Action

In November 2006, 50 veiled Palestinian women responded to a Hamas radio appeal to act as human shields between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen hiding in a Gaza mosque. Women acted as a cover against Israeli troops allowing armed men occupying the Mosque to escape. 2 of these women were killed by Israeli forces. In two further instances in November, 2006, civilians were called to protect sites known to be targeted for attack by the IDF, in one instance by the owner of the targeted home, Mohammedweil Baroud, a commander in the Popular Resistance Committee and by calls broadcast from local Mosques. The Human Rights Watch has condemned this behavior saying, "There is no excuse for calling civilians to the scene of a planned attack...Whether or not the home is a legitimate military target, knowingly asking civilians to stand in harm's way is unlawful.".

The Palestinian Authority has also been accused of using civilians as human shields and civilian property such as houses as sites for smuggling arms, launching sites for rockets, and factories to produce munitions, thereby exposing them to harm from Israeli Defense Forces military operations. Civilian deaths caused by these strikes are widely publicized in the media and create favorable public opinion for the PA and negative public opinion against Israel.

Hakam Balawi has stated, "... It is prohibited to launch rockets and to fire weapons from houses, and that is a supreme Palestinian interest that should not be violated because the result is barbaric retaliation by the occupying army and the citizenry cannot accept such shooting. Those who do it are a certain group that does not represent the people and nation, doing it without thinking about the general interest and public opinion in the world and in Israel. There is no vision or purpose to the missiles; the Palestinian interest is more important"

On the other hand, on 29 February 2008 Hamas parliamentarian Fathi Hammad spoke of a "death-seeking" culture where women, children and the elderly volunteer as human shields against Israeli military attacks. " do not know that the Palestinian people have developed its of death and death-seeking," Hammad is quoted by Memri in a speech televised on Hamas' Al-Aqsa television station. "For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children," Hammad is quoted as saying. "This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: 'We desire death like you desire life,'" he said.

The firing of Qassam rockets into Israel has been opposed by those living closest to the firing location due to Israeli military responses. On July 23, 2004 a family attempted to physically prevent the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades from setting up a Qassam rocket launcher outside their house. Members of the brigade shot one member of the family, an Arab boy, and wounded 5 others.