Human Shield

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Human Shield

A military and political tactic in which civilians go to (or are placed in) a military target to dissuade an enemy attack. Human shields can protect military targets and have propaganda value if the enemy attacks anyway (which obviously could kill the civilians).

References in periodicals archive ?

There, by colonizing the peanut pod zone, the mold becomes a living shield against toxigenic fungi.

Protecting peanuts from aflatoxin

In a previously unrecognized display of insect heroics, honeybees will cluster on a hot spot on the wall of their hives, forming a living shield to keep the next generation from cooking.

Unemployed bees get job taking heat

While saying that he does not have "hard evidence" beyond his personal experience, Cegielski attests that from "spending a month in the middle of this hell, it was obvious that they [Hamas] were breaking international rules of war and worst of all, were not afraid to use their own citizens as living shields." Cegielski then proceeds to recount two arresting instances of Hamas placing civilians in harm's way for which he was personally present:

Polish Reporter Details How Hamas Deliberately Endangered Gaza's Civilians During Last Summer's War

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