TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States reportedly has evidence that since last year, the Israeli army has been sending Palestinians as shields to tunnels in Gaza. They were sent because the Israeli military suspected that the tunnels could be lined with explosives by Hamas.
According to Al Arabiya, this information was shared with the White House and analyzed by the intelligence community in the final weeks of former President Joe Biden's administration, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Israel's use of Palestinians as human shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank has been documented numerous times. However, Wednesday's report is a rare admission that Washington has gathered its own evidence on the matter.
U.S. intelligence collected in the final months of 2024 raised questions in the White House and the U.S. intelligence community about how widely the tactic was used and whether Israeli soldiers were acting on orders issued by military leaders, U.S. officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information, did not provide details on whether the Palestinians mentioned in the intelligence were prisoners or civilians.
International law prohibits the use of civilians as human shields in military activities.
Officials in the Biden administration have long voiced concerns about news reports indicating that Israeli soldiers are using Palestinians to protect themselves in Gaza.
Washington's own evidence on this matter has not been previously reported.
Neither former Biden White House officials, the CIA, nor the Israeli government responded to requests for comment on whether they discussed the intelligence with the U.S.
U.S. Involvement
In the final months of President Joe Biden's administration, U.S. intelligence agencies provided reports indicating that Israeli soldiers were using human shields in Gaza.
This intelligence is part of a broader body of information revealing Israel's internal deliberations regarding their military operations in the genocide they are committing.
Previously, U.S. intelligence also found information indicating that Israeli government lawyers warned that there was evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
If Israel is found guilty, the U.S. could also face legal and political consequences as an arms supplier. They may be forced to stop sharing intelligence with their ally.
It is not yet known whether the Biden administration discussed the intelligence with the Israeli government.
Former Biden White House officials did not respond to requests for comment. The CIA also did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it “prohibits the use of civilians as human shields or coercing them in any way to participate in military operations.”
The Israeli Military Police Criminal Investigation Division is investigating “suspicions involving Palestinians in military missions,” the statement said.
However, at the end of Biden's term, lawyers from various U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the available evidence could not prove that Israel had committed war crimes. In that case, they suggested that the U.S. could continue to supply weapons and intelligence to Israel.
Several former officials later clarified that the intelligence only described isolated incidents in Gaza, not a systematic or comprehensive Israeli military policy.
Human Shields in Gaza and the West Bank
In May this year, seven Palestinians who had been used as human shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank shared their testimonies in a report published by The Associated Press.
In June 2024, video footage verified by Al Jazeera showed Israeli soldiers tying a wounded Palestinian man, Mujahed Azmi, to the front of a military jeep and driving him past two ambulances during a raid in the city of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military later claimed that the soldiers involved had violated protocol. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State described the report and video of the incident as “disturbing” and a “clear violation” of Israeli “orders and procedures.”
UN Investigates Israel Over Torture Allegations
Israel was questioned at the UN on Tuesday and Wednesday over several reports alleging torture of Palestinian prisoners, particularly since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
“The committee has been deeply appalled by the description we have received, in a large number of alternative reports, of what appears to be systematic and widespread torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians, including children,” said the body's rapporteur, Peter Vedel Kessing.
About 28 Israeli officials appeared before a panel of 10 UN experts on torture in Geneva.
The experts asked the Israeli team: “Does Israel have a law against torture?”
The Israeli delegation's answer was no.
“Does Israel apply the agreements it has signed against torture in Gaza and the West Bank?” the question continued, to which the answer was also no.
The committee confronted Israel with various reports and a long list of violations against Palestinians.
The Israeli delegation denied most of the reports. In some cases, the delegation said, soldiers had acted in “self-defense.”
Israel has been repeatedly accused of using torture during the two-year genocide in Gaza.
In one case, a leaked video from the notoriously brutal Sde Teiman military prison appeared to show Israeli soldiers raping a Palestinian prisoner.
In addition, dozens of bodies of Palestinian prisoners returned to Gaza since the start of the ceasefire showed signs of torture.
The UN Committee Against Torture will issue a non-binding summary of its findings on the allegations against Israel at the end of November.
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