Middle East Monitor / April 1, 2025
Israeli soldiers are reportedly using Palestinian civilians as human shields at least six times a day, according to an anonymous Israeli army officer quoted in Haaretz. The anonymous source, a senior officer in a non-reservist brigade, revealed that the practice is now so widespread it has become systematised, institutionalised and, most disturbingly, normalised within the ranks of the Israeli military.
The practice, grotesquely referred to as the “mosquito protocol”, involves forcing unarmed Palestinian civilians — often elderly men or young boys — to enter homes, tunnels or buildings ahead of Israeli soldiers to “clear” them. In reality, they are being sent into potentially booby-trapped areas or buildings suspected of harbouring resistance fighters, not to ensure safety, but simply to speed up operations. The source described the current policy as operating “a sub-army of slaves,” where almost every platoon now includes a “shawish”, a term used to refer to these coerced human shields.
The scale of the abuse is staggering. This may be one of the most damning revelations of the Gaza genocide.
According to the officer, every company has multiple “shawishes”, meaning that dozens are used daily across brigades. These individuals are often forced to set homes ablaze or destroy property without any combat training or consent. The source admitted that the use of drones, robots or canine units — previously standard and safer — was abandoned in favour of expediency. “We forced Palestinians to act as human shields, not because it was safer for IDF troops, but because it was faster,” he said.
Despite the clear and systemic nature of the practice, Israel’s Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID) has opened just six investigations. a number that the officer called “a new low” and an obvious attempt to produce a veneer of accountability. According to the testimony, high-ranking officials, including the former IDF Chief of Staff and Southern Command leadership, have been aware of the practice since at least August 2024, and not only failed to stop it, but reportedly endorsed it as a legitimate operational strategy. The officer concluded with a chilling warning: “This procedure is a crime; even the army now admits that. And it happens daily.”
