BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip – Hundreds of Palestinians serving as human shields guarded the homes of two top militants Sunday, a new tactic that forced Israel to call off missile strikes on the buildings and re-evaluate a mainstay of its aerial campaign in Gaza.
In recent months, the Israeli air force has repeatedly struck the homes of militants after warning residents by phone to clear out. Israeli security officials said they did not know how to respond to the human shield tactic, but pressed ahead with other airstrikes Sunday.
In Gaza City, an aircraft fired a missile at a car, killing one man and wounding nine, including two Hamas militants. Four of the wounded were children, ages 5 to 16, who suffered shrapnel injuries, hospital officials said.
The military said the target of the strike was a vehicle carrying senior members of the Hamas rocket launching operation.
The standoff over the homes of the militants began late Saturday when Mohammed Baroud, local leader of the Popular Resistance Committees, was informed by the army that his house would be hit. The three-story building is home to 17 people from Baroud’s family. Another militant from Hamas also received a warning.
Instead of fleeing, the two decided to stay in their homes and called in reinforcements. They were quickly joined by crowds of supporters, including dozens of armed men, who gathered on balconies, rooftops and in the streets outside.
“Death to Israel. Death to America,” the crowds chanted. Local mosques and Palestinian TV and radio stations also mobilized supporters.
Baroud, involved in rocket attacks on Israel, said he and his fellow militants had planned the response a few days earlier when another house was destroyed in a missile strike.
The army said it called off the nighttime airstrikes because of the crowds. It condemned what it said was a cynical exploitation “by the terrorists of uninvolved people as human shields.”
Israeli military officials acknowledged they had no solution for the standoff.
By Sunday afternoon, about two dozen women were milling around on Baroud’s roof, shielded from the sun by green tarp. One story below them, about a dozen men were resting on mattresses.
Baroud’s mother, Umm Wael, said shifts had been organized in preparation for a long standoff. “Where should we go?” she said. “We will stay here or die in the house. Let them bring it down on our heads.”
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas stopped by to show support. “We are so proud of this national stand. It’s the first step toward protecting our homes, the homes of our children,” he said.
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