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The Origin of Hamas' Human Shields Strategy in Gaza

(Newsweek) Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib - In November 2006, months after Hamas won parliamentary elections and after the group began entrenching its rule in Gaza, Nizar Rayan, a fiery Hamas religious cleric, introduced a novel strategy to protect the houses of Hamas militants from IDF bombardment. Rayan marshaled hundreds of civilians into a house that had received IDF warnings of an impending strike. Instead of fleeing, Rayan called on people to swarm the house and cover its rooftop with as many civilians as possible to force the Israeli military into a choice: Either commit a massacre or call off the airstrike. Israel called off the strike, and the incident received widespread international attention. Rayan proclaimed victory and vowed to use the self-described "human shields on rooftops" strategy to prevent future destruction of Hamas members' houses and infrastructure. It would be used dozens of times in the years leading up to the first major war between Israel and Hamas in 2008-2009. The human shields strategy progressively grew as part of Hamas' defensive posture in which it counted on its activities and assets within urban and crowded areas being immune from Israeli attacks that could result in widespread civilian casualties.
2024-03-01 00:00:00
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