In a damning report aired by CBS News on March 26, an Israeli soldier who served in Gaza admitted he was ordered to use Palestinian civilians as human shields during military operations. The soldier, speaking anonymously under the name “Tommy,” confirmed that he and his unit were instructed to force Palestinians into buildings ahead of Israeli troops, a tactic internally referred to as the “mosquito protocol.”
The soldier described a scenario in which frightened civilians were pushed into potential danger zones to trigger any explosives or ambushes before the soldiers themselves advanced. “We were told, ‘send the neighbor,’” he recalled. “We’d grab some guy, a Palestinian civilian, usually a man, and tell him to go inside first.”
This is not the first time allegations of this nature have surfaced. International human rights organizations have long accused the Israeli military of employing civilians as shields in violation of international law. However, this marks a rare admission from within the Israeli forces themselves.
The practice appears far from isolated. CBS also interviewed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, Omri Salem, who said that he and his nine-year-old cousin were coerced into entering a four-story building ahead of troops. The boy said he was terrified and tried to resist but was beaten and forced inside anyway. “I thought I was going to die,” Omri said.
Israel’s military command officially prohibits the use of human shields. In response to CBS’s findings, an IDF spokesperson stated they could not launch an investigation without further identifying details but reiterated that such conduct violates their code of ethics. Yet critics argue that the frequency and consistency of these accounts—from both victims and soldiers—points to an institutionalized policy of impunity.
Breaking the Silence, an Israeli NGO comprised of army veterans, has published dozens of testimonies from soldiers describing similar incidents dating back years. According to them, the use of human shields is often rationalized internally as a necessity of urban warfare.
The revelations come amid growing scrutiny of Israel’s actions in Gaza, as civilian deaths and destruction mount. If corroborated further, these accounts may add to the growing list of potential war crimes under investigation by international bodies.
For Gazan civilians, the message is clear: they are not only targets of bombardment but also tools of occupation—used, discarded, and silenced. But with testimonies like Tommy’s, that silence is finally being broken.
