The Goldstone Report states that Israelis used Palestinian children to draw Palestinian fire.

What we found

Contradicts. The Goldstone cases summarized in the sources concern adult Palestinian men (Majdi Abd Rabbo, Abbas Ahmad Ibrahim Halawa) forced to enter houses ahead of soldiers, not Palestinian children.[2][3]

Supports. The Goldstone Report's human-shields section concludes that Israeli forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law and a war crime.[2][3]

Context. Child human-shield allegations appear in other reports: a 2013 UN committee's documentation of 14 incidents and a UN child-protection report cited by Wikipedia that describes an 11-year-old used to enter buildings and inspect bags. These are not attributed to the Goldstone Report in the sources.[1][5][6]

Context. A 2010 military tribunal convicted two Israeli soldiers for using a 9-year-old as a human shield, a separate proceeding that is not part of the Goldstone Report.[4]

Context. Israel disputed the Goldstone findings, and pro-Israel critiques (CAMERA, a 2010 Malam study) argue the report omitted Hamas's own use of human shields. These are contested interpretations rather than rebuttals of the specific children claim.[7][8]

Sources

8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 6 not rated, 1 tier 2

1. 1Palestinian children tortured, used as shields by Israel - U.N.reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
2. 2Report of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (Goldstone Report) - 25 September 2009 (Historical Text)palquest.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
3. 3The Goldstone Reportpalestine-studies.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, supports
4. 4Israeli Soldiers Convicted of Using Boy as Shieldnytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
5. 5War crimes in the Gaza War (2008–2009) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org · not rated · cited for: context
6. 6Use of Palestinian Civilians as Human Shieldseuromedmonitor.org · not rated · cited for: context
7. 7Israeli study exposes “four basic flaws” of Goldstone reportworldjewishcongress.org · not rated · cited for: context
8. 8The Goldstone Report: A Study in Duplicity - CAMERA.orgcamera.org · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

• The Pete Quiñones Show · Oct 1, 2026“the Israelis, and even in the Goldstone Report, Israelis were using Palestinian children to keep, uh, to draw, uh, Palestinian fire away from them”Post →

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