News - Middle East: The United States obtained intelligence last year showing Israeli officials discussing using Palestinians as human shields in the besieged Gaza Strip in sheer violation of international law, a new report says.

Citing two unnamed US officials familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on Wednesday that the intelligence concerned Israeli soldiers who sent Palestinians into Gaza tunnels rigged with explosives.

The intelligence was shared with the White House in the final weeks of former president Joe Biden's administration, it added, without saying whether the Palestinians referenced in the intelligence were prisoners or civilians.

The use of human shields - forcing civilians to take part in military activities - is clearly prohibited by international law.

According to the report, while the US had access to this evidence, it remains unclear whether the Biden administration shared it with Tel Aviv, a rare instance of Washington acknowledging its own intelligence on Israel’s use of human shields in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military, in response to the report, denied the allegations, claiming that it “prohibits the use of civilians as human shields or coercing them in any way to participate in military operations.”

This is while incidents of Palestinian civilians being used as shields by Israeli forces have been well documented before. For instance, a video surfaced in June 2024 showing Israeli troopers tying a wounded Palestinian man to the front of a jeep.

The use of human shields is part of a broader pattern of abuses by the occupying regime, including evidence of torture against Palestinian detainees.

During recent questioning at the United Nations on Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel faced scrutiny over reports of systemic torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians, particularly following the 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,” the UN Committee Against Torture’s rapporteur, Peter Vedel Kessing, said.

The experts asked the Israeli team: “Does Israel have a law against torture?”

The answer from the Israeli delegation 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.

Israeli officials denied most allegations, claiming that some actions were in what they called “self-defense.”

A separate report in May 2024 highlighted testimonies from Palestinians who said that they were used as human shields during military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

The UN Committee Against Torture is expected to release a non-binding summary of its findings on Israel's treatment of Palestinians at the end of November.

Source: Press TV