Zionist leaders and their hasbarists repeatedly accuse Hamas and the Palestinian resistance of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. This is in an attempt to absolve themselves of the responsibility for deliberately killing thousands of Palestinian civilians in the repeated aggressions on the besieged Gaza Strip. Over the years of occupation, through the two Palestinian Intifadas and to the 2014 aggression on Gaza, human rights groups were able to document dozens of cases where the Zionist gangs used Palestinian civilians as human shields.

In its report "Israeli Matrix of Control: Use of Palestinian Civilians as Human Shields", the Euro-Med Monitor for human rights documents 6 cases of use of Palestinian civilians as human shields by the Zionist army in Khanyounis. It is unlikely that these are the only incidents of the like during the last aggression. (Download full report here)

The report shows that using Palestinian civilians as human shields is the Isreali modus operandi in the field rather than an exception. In contrast, there is no evidence that the Palestinian resistance use human shields in their activities, and the report hints at the Israeli failure to provide evidence to support their allegations.

Similar testimonies -and the same conclusions- are drawn from Amnesty's report on the 2008/2009 aggression on Gaza. (See "Operation 'Cast Lead': 22 Days of Death and Destruction" [download here] pg 48-50)

Euro-Med Monitor:

"This report presents documented cases of Palestinian civilians used as human shields by Israeli military forces during the 51-day conflict in the Gaza Strip, 8 July-26 August, 2014. It also discusses Israeli claims that Palestinian armed factions used their own civilians as human shields.

After interviewing Palestinians who reported being used as shields by Israeli forces, and documenting the testimonies of additional eyewitnesses, Euro-Mid Observer concluded that the Israeli army committed this violation of international law in at least six cases in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. These civilians were held against their will for hours or days to protect Israeli soldiers from fire, and in the meantime were subjected to inhumane and abusive treatment such as beating, humiliation and exposure to the hot sun while naked for long periods of time.

Israeli authorities deny using Palestinian civilians as human shields. However, the testimonies documented by Euro-Mid prove the lie. Moreover, it seems that using Palestinian civilians as human shields is an Israeli policy, since other, similar cases have been documented in the West Bank.
In contrast, the Euro-Mid team did not find any evidence of Palestinians who were forced to stay in their homes or to use their bodies for the protection for Palestinian resistance factions. Likewise, the Israeli army did not provide any evidence to substantiate their accusations. Moreover, the UN’s Goldstone Report issued following Operation Cast Lead in 2009 exonerated Palestinian armed factions from previous claims by Israeli forces that Palestinians used their own people as human shields."