HUMAN SHIELDS AND PERFIDY: ADDRESSING ILLEGAL CONDUCT IN OPERATIONS
By Louis René Beres April 17, 2019
Misusing protected persons in war presents real and present challenges in the Middle East
Remember Saddam Hussein’s use of human shields during the Persian Gulf War? His illegal and contemptible movement of innocent civilians to military bases and other strategic locations was intended to deter the international coalition. In that instance, the Iraqi ploy had negligible effect on the outcome of the war, but misusing protected persons in war has been and will continue to be a challenge in the Middle East.
Israel likely faces another intifada, another terrorist “war†centrally directed against its civilian populations. On legal matters Jerusalem should soon clarify that any enemy movement of civilians into designated military areas or (vice versa) movements of military assets into civilian areas, violates the law of armed conflict, as generally included in sources identified at Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/human-shields-and-perfidy/
