L'ús d'escuts humans és un crim de guerra

"Human Rights Watch" ha recordat avui a les organitzacions palestines que l’ús d’escuts humans és un crim de guerra. Aquesta crida té lloc després que centenars de palestins, majoritàriament dones, es concentréssin a l’entorn i als terrats de diverses cases de milicians que podrien ser objectiu d’atacs israelians. Habitualment, l’exèrcit israelià adverteix amb anticipació els ocupants de les cases considerades com a objectiu per facilitar la seva evacuació. Aquests advertiments són aprofitats pels grups radicals per empènyer la població civil a convertir-se escuts humans i evitar els atacs.

It is a war crime to seek to use the presence of civilians to render certain points or areas immune from military operations or to direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attack. In the case where the object of attack is not a legitimate military target, calling civilians to the scene would still contravene the international humanitarian law imperative for parties to the conflict to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians from the effects of attack. In the event that such abuse takes place, however, parties to the conflict remain obliged under international humanitarian law to take precautionary measures and not to target civilians or cause excessive civilian injury or damage in relation to the anticipated concrete and direct military advantage.

In other words, while civilians placing themselves in the way of military actions take on heightened risks, they cannot be considered legitimate targets by the opposing force, and parties to the conflict should cancel or suspend attacks where excessive civilian damage is anticipated. Human Rights Watch said that the IDF had properly respected its obligations under international humanitarian law in suspending the attack on the Baroud home that would have caused substantial civilian harm.