Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak on Sunday called on the state prosecution to end the Israel army practice of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, but refrained from issuing an immediate injunction prohibiting the practice.
Justice Barak’s call came in response to a petition filed by the Human Rights Group Adalah. The group presented several cases in which the army used Palestinian civilians as a human shield, especially forcing them to go knock at the doors of wanted Palestinians during arrest raids.
The group said that such innocent civilians are forced to do so with the risk of being fired at or caught in an exchange of fire.
Barak criticized the practice described by the army as the ‘early warning procedure,’ rejecting army claims that it happens with the consent of those who do it.
‘Out of 100 cases in which the neighbor will assist the army, 99 will not be an act of free will,’ Barak said. ‘It is very difficult to certify a person’s will, and I fear that when a military unit arrives at night, any neighbor will agree to cooperate with it due to fear.’
