A recently leaked image has revealed two elderly citizens from the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, blindfolded hours before being killed in November 2024, in a new incident that highlights the Zionist enemy's "army" using Palestinian civilians as human shields during its military operations.

The image showed Zionist soldiers standing between the two men in a scene captured hours before their deaths, after they were detained and used, according to testimonies and reports as human bait before their execution.

Enemy forces belonging to the 92nd Battalion of the Kfir Brigade abducted the two citizens from Beit Lahia and detained them for several days before using them during military operations in the area.

Reports stated that the citizens were forced to enter buildings before enemy soldiers stormed them, a practice documented by Palestinian testimonies and rights reports as a form of using civilians as human shields.

Previous photos showed the two citizens wearing only their underwear, with the hands of one bound behind his back, before they were released near the Al-Tawam roundabout, where they were later shot.

The Chairman of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Ramy Abdu, confirmed that relatives of the two men found them three days after their detention, noting that they were executed after being used as human shields.

The leaked photo adds to a series of images and testimonies documenting violations against Palestinian civilians during Zionist military operations, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip.

Independent reports have documented cases where Palestinian civilians were forced to enter buildings and tunnels ahead of advancing Zionist forces to check for explosives or fighters, a practice that has drawn widespread legal and human rights condemnation.

In May 2025, the Zionist enemy's "army" announced the opening of an investigation into a number of these cases, acknowledging that using Palestinians as human shields or forcing them to participate in military operations is prohibited under its military orders.

A previous United Nations investigation concluded that forcing Palestinian civilians into houses ahead of soldiers amounts to the use of human shields and constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.

An investigation published by the Associated Press in 2025 revealed testimonies from Palestinians who spoke of being forced into buildings and tunnels ahead of Zionist forces, while Zionist soldiers described the practice as widespread.

Ongoing Violations Against Detainees

These events coincided with continuing statements from Palestinian detainees regarding harsh detention conditions inside enemy prisons, amid accusations of depriving them of medical care and adequate food, as well as subjecting them to assaults.

Palestinian and human rights organizations reported that enemy forces arrested 71-year-old Palestinian doctor Mazen Al-Rantisi during a raid on his home in Ramallah at dawn on June 21st.

Al-Rantisi serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Health Work Committees, a Palestinian organization providing medical services.

Al-Rantisi explained to his lawyer that the Ofer Prison authorities deprived him of his regular medications during the first ten days of his detention and subsequently continued to withhold one of his medications, in addition to subjecting his cell to repeated searches and attacks on detainees.

His lawyer noted that Al-Rantisi lost weight rapidly due to being served limited amounts of food, describing some of it as unfit for consumption, including moldy bread, half-rotten tomatoes, uncooked hummus, and foul-smelling rice.

The Belgian human rights organization "Viva Salud" expressed concern over the arrest of Al-Rantisi and another official in the Health Work Committees, warning of the impact of their detention conditions on their health status and their ability to access necessary medical care.

At the same time, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continues, where the number of Palestinian martyrs since the start of the war in October 2023 has surpassed 73,000, amid the continued presence of thousands of bodies under the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings.

On August 4th, the Gaza Strip witnessed the burial of 112 Palestinians in a mass funeral after their remains were recovered from under the rubble, while large numbers of victims remain trapped beneath the debris.

These consecutive events reveal another aspect of the human cost of the war on Gaza, as the suffering of Palestinians is not limited to bombardment, killing, and destruction, but extends to detention, ill-treatment, and deprivation of healthcare and food, amid escalating demands for independent investigations and accountability for those responsible for violations against civilians and detainees.