A human shield is a civilian placed around a military target to deter an attack on it. Through 2005 the opening said international law considers the use of human shields to protect targets a war crime. Today the opening does not carry that designation, though the words war crime survive eleven times in the body. A reader arriving now learns what a human shield is and not that international law classifies its use as a war crime.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “war crime” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 11.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Human shield is a military term describing the use of civilians to deter an enemy from attacking certain targets—in particular military targets. In recent times civilian volunteers attempted to use it as an anti-war strategy. International law considers the use of human shields to protect targets a war crime . The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids the use of any civilian as a shield: "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." ( Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War , August 12 , 1949 , 6 U.S.T. 3516, 75 U.N.T.S. 287, art. 28) It may also be used to describe the use of civilians to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing the civilians to march in front of the soldiers during human wave attacks .1Using this technique increases the civilian casualty rate and is highly illegal.2In some instances, this tactics has been utilized by the Nazis and by the Soviet Union during World War II . Israeli forces are also reported to have used this tactic, notably during the battle in Jenin refugee camp in April 2002. Palestinian militia groups have been reported as using civilians as human shield, many of whom were children and teenagers. Pictures from the Gaza Strip have documented incident of Hamas and Popular Resistance Committees using children as human shield, to prevent the IDF from firing over gunmen and Qassam rockets . [1] The tactic was used by the Bosnian Serbs in 1994 and by Iraq in 1990. Some anti-war activists have voluntarily gone to target areas for this purpose, as in 2003 to Iraq, in advance of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq . Rachel Corrie and Thomas Hurndall , Western International Solidarity Movement volunteers in the Palestinian territories , were killed in March 2003 and April 2003 while trying to disrupt IDF demolition operations by armoured bulldozers. Some ISM volunteers object to the use of the term human shield to describe their work. The term human shield can also be used collectively where the shield is not an individual but the whole population. In this case, one party in a conflict intentionally positions its military assets amongst a civilian population or close to civilian facilities such as hospitals or schools in the hope that the other party will be reluctant to attack them.3Furthermore, if the other party attacks these targets anyway, the resulting civilian casualties have propaganda value.4In the case of popular resistance movements, which always operate amongst the civilian populations from which they arise, application of the phrase "human shield" is usually restricted to partisan polemics. One controversial aspect of the Splinter Cell series of video games involves the player's ability to grab civillians and enemies from behind and use them as a human shield.5
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The opening as it stood in 2010 16 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Human shield is a military and political term describing the deliberate placement of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from attacking those targets. It may also refer to the use of civilians to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing the civilians to march in front of the soldiers. This is done in the hope that the other party will be reluctant to attack them. Furthermore, if the other party attacks these targets anyway, the resulting civilian casualties have propaganda value. Using this technique increases the civilian casualty rate and is illegal by any nation that is party to the Fourth Geneva Convention .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369695902.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Human shield is a military and political term describing the deliberate placement of non-combatants in or around combat targets to deter the enemy from attacking these targets.It may also refer to the use of persons to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing them to march in front of the combatants.A third meaning is when a combatant holds another person in front of him or her to shield him or her from projectiles (usually bullets ), often by holding that person in a headlock or nelson hold .Using this technique is illegal by nations that are parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions , the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions , and the 1998 Rome Statute .International Committee of the Red Cross .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669215236.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Human shield war postcard by Sergey Solomko Human shield is a legal, military and political term denoting a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who is either forced or volunteers to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it.Forcing non-combatants to serve as human shields is a war crime according to the 1949 Geneva Conventions , the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions , and the 1998 Rome Statute . International Committee of the Red Cross .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962888058.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Non-combatants placed around a target to discourage enemy attacks For other uses, see Human shield (disambiguation) .Human shield war postcard by Sergey Solomko A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it.The concept of human shields as a resistance measure was created by Mahatma Gandhi as a weapon of resistance.On the other hand, the weaponization of civilians has also developed as a tactic by some non-state actors like ISIS .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178693388.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Non-combatants placed around a target to discourage enemy attacks For other uses, see Human shield (disambiguation) . Human shield war postcard by Sergey Solomko A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The 20th and 21st centuries had numerous operations that used involuntary human shields.Use of voluntary human shields have also had use, particularly with Mahatma Gandhi using the concept as a tool of resistance.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298313893. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“war crime” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 11. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
military term describing the use of civilians to deter an enemy from attacking certain targets—in particular mi
Now
non-combatant
Sections that no longer exist
This section existed on October 6, 2023. It is gone today. The current article has no similar heading in its place, and the article is shorter overall. So this is not a heading that got renamed, and it is not a topic that got folded into a bigger section. 5 sections of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 14,032 characters shorter.
During the 2008–2009 Gaza War
During the 2009–2014 Gaza War
During the Second Intifada
During the 2008–2009 Gaza War
From 2009 to the 2014 Gaza War
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
