A recently leaked photo shows two elderly Palestinian men from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, blindfolded, hours before they were killed in November 2024. This incident highlights the Israeli military’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields during its military operations.
The photo shows Israeli soldiers standing between the two men, in a scene captured hours before their deaths. According to testimonies and reports, the men were detained and used as human shields before being executed.
The Israeli forces, belonging to the 92nd Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, abducted the two men from Beit Lahia and held them for several days before using them in military operations in the area.
Reports indicate that the men were forced into buildings before they were stormed by Israeli soldiers, a practice documented by Palestinian testimonies and human rights reports as a form of using civilians as human shields. Previous photos showed the two men wearing only their underwear, with one of their hands tied behind his back, before they were released near the Al-Tawam roundabout, where they were later shot.
Rami Abdu, head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, confirmed that the men’s relatives found them three days after their detention, indicating that they had been executed after being used as human shields.
The leaked photo adds to a series of images and testimonies documenting violations against Palestinian civilians during Israeli military operations, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip.
Independent reports have documented cases in which Palestinian civilians were forced to enter buildings and tunnels before Israeli forces advanced, ostensibly to check for explosives or fighters—a practice that has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights and legal organizations.
