March 09, 2007 10:06am
THE Israeli army used two Palestinian children as "human shields" during an operation in the West Bank town of Nablus, an Israeli human rights group claimed today.
"During the recent Israeli army operation in Nablus, soldiers used two Palestinian children (a boy aged 15 and girl of 11) and a 24-year-old man as human shields,'' said B'Tselem.
A military spokesman said the army was looking into the charge.
The rights group, citing witness testimony, said soldiers had forced the three civilians to accompany them as they entered Nablus homes in search of Palestinian militants and weapons.
The soldiers were apparently "afraid that armed fighters could be hiding in the homes or that they could have been rigged with explosives", the group said.
"So what the two minors and the adult were forced to do posed a clear danger and the soldiers were aware of that,'' it said.
Israel's supreme court banned the use of human shields by the army in October 2005 as contrary to international law.
The army carried out several days of searches for arms factories and wanted militants in Nablus that ended on March 1.
One Palestinian was killed during the operation and several others were arrested.
Source: Australian News
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