A Palestinian man inspects the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Reuters)
An Israeli army officer says the regime’s forces are using Palestinian civilians as human shields at least six times a day during their military offensives across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
A senior officer from a non-reservist brigade, speaking anonymously, disclosed that this practice has become so prevalent that it is now systematized, institutionalized, and, alarmingly, normalized within the ranks of the Israeli military.
The procedure, disturbingly labeled the “mosquito protocol,” entails compelling unarmed Palestinian civilians — frequently elderly men or young boys — to enter residences, tunnels, or structures before Israeli soldiers to ensure they are “cleared.”
In fact, they are being deployed to areas or buildings that may be rigged with explosives and are believed to shelter resistance fighters, not for the sake of safety, but merely to expedite offensives.
The source characterized the existing policy as functioning like “a sub-army of slaves,” indicating that nearly every platoon now contains a “shawish,” a term that denotes the forced human shields.
The officer stated that each company utilizes several "shawishes," indicating that numerous are employed daily throughout the brigades. These individuals are often forced to set fire to homes or vandalize property, without any prior combat training or consent.
The source acknowledged that the previously standard and safer methods of employing drones, robots, or canine units were set aside in favor of a more expedient approach.
“We forced Palestinians to act as human shields, not because it was safer for IDF troops, but because it was faster,” he said.
In spite of the evident and systematic nature of the practice, the Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID) of Israel has initiated only six investigations.
The unnamed officer described the figure as “a new low” and suggested it is part of blatant efforts to create an illusion of accountability.
The testimony indicates that senior officials, such as the former chief of staff of the Israeli army and the leadership of the Southern Command, have been aware of this practice since at least August 2024. Instead of intervening to halt it, they are said to have supported it as a valid operational strategy.
“This procedure is a crime; even the army now admits that. And it happens daily,” the officer concluded with a stark warning.
The Israeli military launched a surprise aerial assault on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing over 1,000 people, injuring more than 2,000 others, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 50,300 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 114,500 other individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
