Palestinian women share how Israeli forces used them as human shields in Gaza and the West Bank
Israeli army straps injured Palestinian man to the front of a military vehicle and uses him as a human shield, Jenin, 22 June 2024
Majd Jawad reports in Mondoweiss on 28 October 2025:
“They forced me to carry a drone into seven houses to film them, making sure they were empty of people or military equipment. My infant cried for hours while waiting for me. I begged them to let me breastfeed her, but they refused, continuing to use me as a human shield,” said Hazar Al-Sititi, 33, from Jenin refugee camp.
During the Israeli army’s ten-day siege of Jenin refugee camp in August 2024, soldiers forced Al-Sititi to leave her six-month-old baby behind and carry out their orders.
“They forced me to walk ahead of an infantry unit of about 30 soldiers, keeping a distance of ten meters between us. Then they ordered me to enter the houses, force the residents out, and film inside before the soldiers stormed in to arrest the young men they were after,” Al-Sititi recalled.
This was not a random act by a rogue soldier. It reflects a systematic military practice, carried out with the knowledge of Israeli commanders, as admitted by soldiers in a previous Haaretz investigation. “In the army, they know this is not a one-off event by some young, foolish company commander acting on his own,” one soldier told investigators.
Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza, testimonies have emerged documenting the Israeli army’s use of Palestinian women’s bodies as human shields, following specific established procedures designed to protect Israeli soldiers from danger during ground operations and incursions into Palestinian areas.
Choosing between my daughter and my life
“That day, around 70 Israeli soldiers invaded the camp and besieged it. They arrested several young men before reaching my house. They blew up the door and shouted at my little daughter. Then they forced me to choose: either they take my daughter away from me, or I be used as a human shield,” said Iman al-Amer, 41, from Jenin camp.
The soldiers ordered Iman to enter multiple houses, force residents outside, and warn them that refusal would result in being shot.
This practice is part of what is known as the “Mosquito Protocol,” an undeclared military procedure whereby detainees, deliberately held in the field rather than in Israeli prisons, are forced to carry out quick tasks at civilian or military sites before soldiers enter them.
Why women?
Israel’s use of Palestinian bodies as human shields has affected Palestinians of all ages and genders. Over decades of occupying Palestinian lands, Israel has targeted not only men but also children, the elderly, and women, both during major military operations and in everyday incursions.
Dr. Lina Meari, from the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Institute for Women’s Studies, explained, “Colonial powers’ view of gender issues is rigid and fixed, rooted in the belief that women are inherently weak and can be exploited as tools, through harassment or rape, or by using them to pressure resistant fighters into surrendering or carrying out military operations.”