Annual Report - Palestinian Center for Human Rights

failure to act against such crimes has encouraged IOF to further disregard the lives of
Palestinian children wherever they are throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The use of sonic booms by IOF against Palestinian civilians in September and
October 2005 further evidences Israel's disregard for Palestinian children, particularly
their mental health. In a letter sent to the Israeli Defense Minister on 28 October
2005, the UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Process, Alvaro De Soto,
expressed his utmost concern for the impacts of the use of sonic booms on Palestinian
children. Based on a report by the World Health Organization, he pointed out that
sonic booms, intensively used by Israel against Palestinian civilians in September and
October 2005, caused psychological disorders in Palestinian children who were
terrified by these booms. Sonic booms also damaged civilian property.
Using Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields in Military Operations
On 6 October 2005, the Israeli High Court ruled that it was illegal for IOF to use
Palestinian civilians as human shields during military actions. The decision followed
a petition filed by a number of human rights organizations 2002. The petition
documented the IOF's use of Palestinian civilians as human shields since the
beginning of the second Intifada, primarily during IOF operations carried out in
Palestinian population centers. The true test of this ruling will be in its
implementation.
Using civilians as human shields in military operations is prohibited under
international humanitarian law. 17
IOF have continued to use Palestinian civilians as human shields during military
operations in the OPT. Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000,
IOF have forced Palestinian civilians, including children and women, to carry out
tasks that posed threats to their lives, including:
1) Walking in front of Israeli troops to shield them from gunfire, explosives or other
attacks.
2) Accompanying Israeli troops in their movement from one place to another.
3) Entering houses and other Palestinian properties before Israeli troops during
Israeli house raids that aim at searching for wanted Palestinians.
4) Approaching homes and requesting the residents leave their properties.
5) Removing suspicious objects from roads.
On 5 May 2002, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Addalah), on
behalf of six other human rights organizations, submitted a petition to the Israeli High
Court demanding that the court order IOF to stop using Palestinian civilians as human
shields. Two days later, the Israeli Attorney General's Office submitted a response to
this request. The State's response implicitly confirmed the IOF's use of these
practices and claimed that IOF decided to prohibit the use of civilians as human
shields. In light of this response, the court did not decide on the case and left the door
open for the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations,
17 Article 28 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prescribes that "the presence of a protected person may
not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." Article 51 of the
Convention provides that "the Occupying Power may not compel protected persons to serve in its
armed or auxiliary forces…" Article 147 of the Convention further defines “willfully causing great
suffering or serious injury to body …" as a grave breach of the Convention.
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