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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
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Federica Marsi

What is a ‘human shield’ and why is Israel using the term in Gaza?

Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City is home to at least 5,000 patients and thousands more refugees [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

Rights organisations have accused Israel of war crimes as an overwhelming majority of the 11,100 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks are civilians, two-thirds of them women and children.

In its defence, the Israeli army has accused the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, of using civilians as human shields. The Palestinian armed group has rejected the allegations.

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