The United States accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of using innocent Palestinians as human shields.
Meanwhile, protests rage on in the Arab world and beyond, condemning the forced displacement of Gazans and other Palestinians by Israel.
The term ‘human shields’ is used in IHL with respect to civilians or other protected persons, whose presence or movement is aimed, or used to render military targets immune from military operations.
The use of human shields is considered a war crime and is banned as per Rule 97 of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Norwegian Refugee Council described the order to “forcibly transfer” civilians as unlawful.