The Israeli Information Center For Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B’Tselem, reported on Thursday that the Israeli army used an 11-year old Palestinian girl as a human shield during an invasion into the West Bank city of Nablus last week.The army said it is checking the report issued by B’Tselem, an organization that monitors the Israeli violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories.
The B’Tselem report revealed that soldiers broke into her family’s home and interrogated her along with some of her relatives about the whereabouts of Palestinian fighters who exchanged fire with the army during the invasion.
The child, Jihad Dadush, told B’Tselem that soldiers threatened to take her prisoner if she did not lead them to a nearby house.
Dadush stated that a soldier ordered her to walk towards the nearby house, as she was walking, three soldiers walked behind her.
“When we reached the house, several soldiers were behind me”, she stated, “They ordered me to step inside the house, and I did”.
The soldiers ordered Jihan to walk in front of them as they searched the rooms, but found no fighters, and then two of them walked her back home.
She said that one of the soldiers told her “Thank you, but do not tell anyone”.
“I was so scared”, she added, “I was afraid they would kill me or put me in prison”.
Moreover, B’Tselem reported that the army used a 15-year old Palestinian boy and a Palestinian man as human shields during the last five-day invasion into Nablus.
The invasion into Nablus ended of March 1; one Palestinian civilian was killed when he was shot by the soldiers as he stood on his rooftop, and eleven residents were taken prisoner.
The International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention requires combatants to protect the lives and dignity of civilians, and states that civilians must at all times be humanely treated, and protected against all acts of violence and threats.
