内容摘要：between China and the United States – the world’s two biggest superpowers.

between China and the United States – the world’s two biggest superpowers.

The use of human shields in warfare is prohibited under IHL, but Israeli soldiers have allegedly employed it widely during the Gaza genocide.Earlier this year, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published the first-hand testimony of an Israeli soldier who said that the practice had been used “six times a day” in his unit and that it had effectively been “normalised” in military ranks.

Back in August, the newspaper had revealed that Palestinians used as human shields in Gaza tended to be in their 20s and were used for periods of up to a week by units, which took pride in “locating” detainees to send into tunnel shafts and buildings.“It’s become part of [Israel’s] military culture,” said Nicola Perugini, co-author of Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire, noting the “huge archive” of evidence provided, not only by human rights groups, but also by soldiers, who were until recently posting evidence of Palestinians being used as “fodder” on social media with an apparent sense of total impunity.“Israeli army investigations have proven throughout the decades to be non-investigations,” Perugini said, noting that documentation of the practice, forbidden by Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions, started during the second Intifada of the early 2000s.

“What we have now in the live-streamed genocide is the most documented archive of human shielding in the history of the different wars between Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.“What we have discovered is precisely that it is a systematic practice.”

How has Israel responded to allegations?

Throughout the conflict, the Israeli military’s response to allegations has been to withhold comment, to point to a lack of details, or, when faced with undeniable proof, to announce a probe.The Israeli military said of that deadly scene that its forces had fired warning shots nearby.

“We have seen yesterday the shocking images of hungry people pushing against fences, desperate for food. It was chaotic, undignified and unsafe,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.“I believe it is a waste of resources and a distraction from atrocities,” Lazzarini continued. “We already have an aid distribution system that is fit for purpose.”

“The clock is ticking towards famine, so [the] humanitarian [system] must be allowed to do its life-saving work now,” Lazzarini said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later acknowledged a “loss of control momentarily” at the distribution centre, but a senior military official said the distribution was nonetheless “a success”.