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Hezbollah Village Armory: Israeli Indiscriminate Attacks Killed Most Civilians

Photos by adinkraifa

Human shields are persons who volunteers or is forced to take up a position at a likely military target as a means of forestalling an enemy attack. What if the shield is a community and it is used to insulate from attack military assets? Recently in the news Israel’s military released maps and aerial photographs showing what it described as a network of Hezbollah weapons depots and command centers inside villages.  These are in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border. The Israeli material included detailed maps and 3-D simulations showing individual buildings that the military identified as rocket storehouses. Some were shown to be located close to schools and hospitals. The rare publication of what seemed to be detailed intelligence material appeared aimed at demonstrating Israel’s reach and preparing public opinion for possible strikes inside villages and the attendant civilian casualties if a future round of fighting erupts. In Beirut, a Hezbollah official said he would not comment before seeing the information.

Can this be treated as a case of Human Shields? In the past Israel in its fight to defend itself against Hamas attacks against its civilians, Israel is faced with moral challenges unprecedented in their complexity. Hamas, as a basic element of its strategy, exploits the Palestinian population as shields for its terrorist operations and infrastructure. This cynical strategy include the following tactics: the deliberate launching of rocket from populated areas, the deliberate use of civilian homes to shield Hamas arms and explosives manufacturing facilities and the deliberate use of civilians as human shields against anticipated airstrikes.

In this sense the said scenario if established to be factual will be the same. The Hezbollah could be adopting a similar approach to dealing with the Israeli armed forces. Human Shield increases the civilian casualty rate and is illegal in any nation that is party to the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Israeli army said it was investigating the incident, which reportedly took place in Nablus. In a video clip posted on the Yediot Ahronot newspaper’s website, two Palestinian youths are shown leaning over an Israeli jeep with a soldier inside. A foreign peace activist tells the soldier, “You can’t use them as human shields, it is against the law.” The soldier says he is not doing so, adding, “We asked them to speak to their friends and ask them to stop throwing stones at us.” The military, announcing the suspension, said soldiers “apparently made prohibited use of civilians”. Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups have regularly complained that Israel uses human shields to stop youths from throwing stones at them, but there has often been no proof.

No wonder that the use of human shields be they individually or as a group or a community pervades conflicts involving Israel. Both sides avail of the same reprehensible tactic and perpetuate the conflict. The Hezbollah might have its armoury protected by the village since Israel does the same then it does not matter anymore.

July 21, 2010 - Posted by windowmelodies | News | Fourth Geneva Convention, Hezbollah, human rights groups, Human shields, Israeli, Palestinians, Yediot Ahronot