Israeli Supreme Court Bans Use of Palestinian Civilians as "Human Shields"

On Thursday the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the military cannot use Palestianian civilians as human shields when entering the homes of suspected terrorists. “You cannot exploit the civilian population for the army’s military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate with the army,” Chief Justice Aharon Barak wrote in the ruling. “The central tenet is that it is mandatory to distance innocent local residents from the area of the hostile actions.” As for the use of consenting Palestinians to assist in raids of terrorist homes, the Court ruled “when an army unit comes at night no one would refuse to cooperate out of fear…. Ninety-nine times out of 100, it is not free will.”

The Jerusalem Post has details. The decision is not available in English but should be available in Hebrew at the Israeli Supreme Court website. A report on the practice of “human shields” by the Arabic organization that brought the challenge is here.

Without access to the opinion I will refrain from expressing my thoughts on the Court’s decision, although comments are welcome.