I have seen many people make claims that while Israel states that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, they consider it to be just a way to legitimize Israel's war strategy. A representative example:
I haven't seen one Palestinian "terrorist" holding a woman or child in front of them as a shield as people have claimed. That argument that they are hiding out with the civilians is unfair. How much can someone hide in a place that's probably not as big as Connecticut? - Dulcita
In response, here are a few things I found on the Internet regarding the subject:
- Speech by Fathi Hamad, member of Hamas Council, Al Aqsa TV, Feb 29, 2008: "For the Palestinian people death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land: the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly [Palestinians] created a human shield of women, children, the elderly and the Jihad fighters againset the Zionist bombing machine, as they were saying to the Zionist enemy: We desire death as you desire Life."
- Gaza TV calls out to the local civilian population to go and form a human shield around the house of a Hamas terrorist after Israel called him to warn him about an airtstrike.
- Video of Hamas terrorists grabbing children and using them as shields while running across the street
- Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs report on Hamas exploitation of civilians as human shields: Photographic evidence. Includes other videos and photographic evidence of Hamas sending children to protect rocket launch sites and weapons assembly facilities, firing rockets from densely populated areas, etc.
- News report of Hamas terrorists dressing up as women and using a crowd of women for cover
Enough said?




