An investigation conducted by the newspaper Haaretz revealed that the Israeli army is systematically using Palestinians as human shields to comb tunnels and buildings in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli newspaper said that this is done with the knowledge of senior army officers, including Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

According to the investigation, Israeli soldiers said that their lives are more important than the lives of Palestinians and it is better to use them as human shields.

The investigation showed that in some cases, soldiers used children and elderly people as human shields in Gaza.

Al Jazeera photos

At the end of last June, Al Jazeera obtained exclusive photos showing the Israeli army using Palestinian prisoners as human shields during the fighting in Gaza.

The photos showed a prisoner being forced to enter a tunnel after being tied with a rope and a camera attached to his body, in addition to forcing prisoners to wear military clothing while being used as human shields.

It also showed the use of a wounded prisoner as a human shield and forcing him to enter destroyed homes in Gaza, where the bodies of martyrs are seen lying on the ground at the entrance to the house.

In a previous case documented by Al Jazeera, images showed the Israeli army using a prisoner as a human shield in one of the streets of the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.

In the West Bank, video clips last June showed a wounded prisoner being tied to the front of an Israeli military vehicle during the storming of the city of Jenin, to be a shield for the occupation soldiers from the bullets of the resistance fighters.

Source: Al Jazeera