,,iii  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session 
,s4 ,,con4 ,,res4 #da  ,,in ,,the       
,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states   
,july #bd1 #bjad ,mr4 ,cruz 7for himself
 and ,mrs4 ,gillibrand7 submitted the   
following concurrent resolution2 which  
was referred to the ,committee on       
,foreign ,relations  ,,concurrent       
,,resolution  ,denouncing the use of    
civilians as human shields by ,hamas and
 other terrorist organizations in       
violation of international humanitarian 
law4  ,whereas the term human shields   
refers to the use of civilians1         
prisoners of war1 or other noncombatants
 whose mere presence is designed to     
protect combatants and objects from     
attack2  ,whereas the use of human      
shields violates international          
humanitarian law 7also referred to as   
the ,law of ,war or ,law of ,armed      
,conflict72  ,whereas ,additional       
,protocol ,i1 ,article #ej7a7 to the    
,geneva ,convention defines civilian as1
 any person who does not belong to one  

of the categories of persons referred to
 in ,article #d7;,a7 7#a71 7#b71 7#c71  
and 7#f7 of the ,third ,convention and  
in ,article #dc of this ,protocol4 ,in  
the case of doubt whether a person is a 
civilian1 that person shall be          
considered a civilian42  ,whereas       
,additional ,protocol ,i1 ,article      
#ea7g7 to the ,geneva ,convention       
states1 ,the presence or movement of the
 civilian population or individual      
civilians shall not be used to render   
certain points or areas immune from     
military operations1 in particular in   
attempts to shield military objectives  
from attacks or to shield1 favour or    
impede military operations4 ,the        
,parties to the conflict shall not      
direct the movement of the civilian     
population or individual civilians in   
order to attempt to shield military     
objectives from attacks or to shield    
military operations42  ,whereas1 since  
,june #ae1 #bjad1 there have been over  
#b1jjj rockets fired by ,hamas and other

 terrorist organizations from ,gaza into
 ,israel2  ,whereas ,hamas uses civilian
 populations as human shields by placing
 its underground tunnel network and     
missile batteries in densely populated  
areas1 and in and around schools1       
hospitals1 and mosques2  ,whereas       
,israel drops leaflets1 makes           
announcements1 places phone calls and   
sends text messages to the ,palestinian 
people in ,gaza warning them in advance 
that an attack is imminent1 and goes to 
extraordinary lengths to target only    
terrorist actors2  ,whereas ,hamas has  
urged the residents of ,gaza to ignore  
the ,israeli warnings and to remain in  
their houses and has encouraged         
,palestinians to gather on the roofs of 
their homes to act as human shields2 and
  ,whereas ,hamas1 al ,qaeda1           
,hezbollah1 ,al-,shabaab1 ,islamic      
,state of ,iraq and the ,levant 7,,isil7
 and other foreign terrorist            
organizations typically use innocent    
civilians as human shields3 ,now1       

therefore1 be it  ,that ,congress--     
7#a7 strongly condemns the brutal and   
illegal tactic by ,hamas and other      
terrorist organizations of using        
innocent civilians as human shields2    
7#b7 calls on the international         
community to recognize the grave        
breaches of international law committed 
by ,hamas in using human shields2  7#c7 
places responsibility for launching the 
rocket attacks on ,hamas and other      
terrorist organizations1 such as        
,islamic ,jihad1 in ,gaza2  7#d7        
supports the sovereign right of the     
,government of ,israel to defend its    
territory and stop the rocket attacks on
 its citizens2  7#e7 expresses          
condolences to the families of the      
innocent victims on both sides of the   
conflict2  7#f7 supports ,palestinian   
civilians who reject ,hamas and all     
forms of terrorism1 desiring to live in 
peace with their ,israeli neighbors2 and
  7#g7 calls on ,mahmoud ,abbas to      
condemn the use of innocent civilians as

 human shields by ,hamas and other      
terrorist organizations4