Become a paid subscriber to gain access to our private Discord server, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events. A 63-Year-Old Medical Worker Spent Three Months as a Human Shield for an Israeli Brigade in Gaza“They dressed me in military uniform, and asked me to search in homes for explosives.”
Israel’s rampant use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in Gaza and the West Bank is well documented. Reportedly known as the “mosquito protocol,” Israeli soldiers force Palestinians to inspect buildings, tunnels, and other sites. Israel has denied this practice, despite a growing body of evidence—including quotes from Israeli soldiers themselves, who say the practice is used, in part, to spare combat dogs from injury and death. In Gaza, Israel’s use of human shields has become ubiquitous. Yahya Al-Qassas risked his life to write the story you are about to read, entering a displacement zone in Khan Younis to interview Jameel al-Masri, a 63-year-old Palestinian man who was forced to be a human shield for three months. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. Drop Site is reader supported. Support us by subscribing: Story by Yahya Al-Qassas KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA—In October of 2024, 63-year-old Jameel Al-Masri, a Palestinian man from Beit Hanoun, was working on the staff of Indonesian Hospital while the Israeli military was carrying out what was known as “the Generals’ Plan,” an effort to depopulate major swaths of Gaza. His job was to help move patients and families through the hospital as safely as possible, a task that went from difficult to impossible as Israel began attacking the area around the hospital in mid-October. Jameel fled with his family to El-Fawka school, seeking refuge. But it didn’t matter. Israeli troops came days later, besieged the school, and ordered everyone south.
Near the UN supply center, Israeli soldiers set up a checkpoint and began rounding up all the men in fives. Jameel was among them. While waiting near a detention center, a soldier shouted: “Who knows Hebrew?” Jameel noticed two women had also been abducted and assumed they needed a translator. He stepped forward.
That moment changed everything. Soldiers with Israel’s Givati Brigade pulled him aside and interrogated him about his Hebrew. He told them he’d worked in Israel for over 30 years. They blindfolded him and threw him into an armored personnel carrier, an APC. No charges. No explanation. When the blindfold came off, he got his first glimpse of a man he had been lying on top of, held like cargo on the floor. They stayed like that for a full day. Jameel still remembers his name: Wael AbdelLatif Abo Amsha. The next day, soldiers told them:
They dressed him in a vest. He complied, as he did not have any other choice. The soldiers had lied to him: months of torment were ahead. A week passed. No release. Only beatings, shouting, humiliation, and filth thrown at them. “We need to empty all the schools,” they said. “You will stay here and then go home.” The first school Jameel was forced to clear out was in Beit Hanoun. He was ordered to head to the school, put the displaced civilians in lines and move them out. Then came something else. Soldiers would force him to enter destroyed and burned-out homes – alone. The APC door would open and he would be told to get out—dressed in an IDF uniform—and search inside. A drone hovered over him, emitting a voice that directed him where to go. Once he cleared the home, the drone filmed everything. Then soldiers stormed in, planted explosives on the support pillars, and later blew up the house. That was the cycle. Again and again. House after house. The military unit changed every month, but Jameel stayed. Three different units. He was their tool. Every week or two, he was dragged back into the field. Jameel was sick. He had heart problems, had undergone stent placement, and was often short of breath. Eventually, they realized he couldn’t keep up, and used him less and less over the three months of his abduction. One night, when a unit was preparing to leave, they shouted at him as he lay on the stairs, weapons drawn. They ordered him to clean their kitchen. He thought he was finally going home. Instead, they sat him down and resumed their game, asking about his Hebrew. One of them loaded his weapon behind him, pointing it at his head, playing around, laughing.
Every few days they repeated the same promise:
Meanwhile, he was fed one piece of bread and a single can of tuna per day. During the first week, they gave him nothing. I asked Jameel about his conditions. He didn’t hesitate:
Weapons pointed at his face, constantly. Orders barked. Sent into dangerous ruins, alone, following a drone. No protection. No dignity. No choice. Did the army give him anything for protection?
He asked them why.
The soldiers were young. Barely in their twenties. They spoke broken Arabic. Names he remembers: Sion, Dany, Ido, Benjamin. Jameel recounts another night: he was lying down when a soldier jumped on him, weapon aimed.
Jameel was sent to scan homes in Jabaliya. If he took too long, hesitated, or moved too slowly from sheer exhaustion, the soldiers cursed him, kicked him, and beat him without warning.
He saw corpses on the streets. Another time, soldiers ordered him to clean the kitchen. One pointed a machine gun at him while the other filmed. They threatened him, saying:
Then they laughed and said it was a joke. It wasn’t the first time. Another unit had done the same thing.
Jameel had to ask for permission to use the bathroom. The humiliation was constant. And the accusations too.
Jameel answered:
But the soldier replied:
Even among themselves, they were violent. Jameel heard them shouting, mocking, bragging. Talking casually about killing.
He heard soldiers talk about their post-service trips to Thailand, to the UK, about Trump, about a ceasefire so they could go home. He remembers soldiers speaking about an incident in which one of their colleagues died after playing with a grenade in Jabaliya.
His family lived in agony.
Jameel Al-Masri was released on January 20, 2025, the first day of the ceasefire after being abducted on October 18, 2024 from Jabaliya Refugee Camp. Even when he returned to his family, he couldn’t believe it.
He suffers from a prolapsed disc due to the beatings by soldiers. He was deprived of his medication for high blood pressure. After release, doctors found narrowed arteries. He’s on meds now, and physically better. But his mind is still in captivity. Following his release, Al-Masri remained in Khan Younis despite orders to leave. His family did not find another place to stay and cannot afford a tent. There are now sheltering in a school. Younis Tirawi and Maira Pinheiro contributed reporting. Become a Drop Site News Paid SubscriberDrop Site News is reader-supported. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. A paid subscription gets you:✔️ 15% off Drop Site store ✔️ Access to our Discord, subscriber-only AMAs, chats, and invites to events, both virtual and IRL ✔️ Post comments and join the community ✔️ The knowledge you are supporting independent media making the lives of the powerful miserable You can also now find us on podcast platforms and on Facebook, Twitter, Bluesky, Telegram, and YouTube. © 2025 Drop Site News, Inc. |