Much attention has been given to Razan Najjar, the 21-year-old Palestinian medic who was killed by Israeli gunfire on June 1. Israel’s critics have claimed that her death was a war crime. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are claiming that she was not the “angel” that her defenders make her out to be.
According to a June 7 video released by the IDF, Najjar can be seen throwing a smoke grenade during a riot at the Israel-Gaza border and proclaiming herself as a “human shield.”
Hamas' use of human shields must stop. pic.twitter.com/jHayih3wNq
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 7, 2018
“The fact we see her in front of the cameras protecting demonstrators with her body proves how Hamas exploits all classes of Gazan society to its ends and to Iran’s ends,” IDF Arabic Language Spokesperson Avichai Adraee tweeted. “Do medical personnel around the world throw grenades and participate in riots and call themselves human shields?”
Joe Dyke, the Palestinian correspondent for Agence-France Presse (AFP), argued that the IDF took the video out of context, stating that the full quote was her saying that she’s “a human shield and rescuer for the injured on the front lines.”
Regardless, in their examination of the incident the IDF concluded that Najjar’s death was not intentional, claiming that “a small number of bullets were fired during the incident, and that no shots were deliberately or directly aimed toward her.”
The violence at the Israel-Gaza border has been ongoing since March as part of Hamas’ plan to breach the border fence and terrorize Israelis. Protesters have been documented as flying fiery kites into Israeli territory, burning tires and throwing rocks at IDF soldiers. Despite the criticism the IDF has faced, most of the Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire have been Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
