III 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 41 

Denouncing the use of civilians as human shields by Hamas and other 

terrorist organizations in violation of international humanitarian law. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2014 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 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 law. 

Whereas the term ‘‘human shields’’ refers to the use of civilians, prisoners of war, or other noncombatants whose 

mere presence is designed to protect combatants and objects from attack; 

Whereas the use of human shields violates international humanitarian law (also referred to as the Law of War or 

Law of Armed Conflict); 

Whereas Additional Protocol I, Article 50(1) to the Geneva 

Convention defines ‘‘civilian’’ as, ‘‘[a]ny person who does 

not belong to one of the categories of persons referred to 

in Article 4(A) (1), (2), (3), and (6) of the Third ConvenVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:13 Jul 25, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SC41.IS SC41

jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•SCON 41 IS 

tion and in Article 43 of this Protocol. In the case of 

doubt whether a person is a civilian, that person shall be 

considered a civilian.’’; 

Whereas Additional Protocol I, Article 51(7) to the Geneva 

Convention states, ‘‘[T]he presence or movement of the 

civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used 

to render certain points or areas immune from military 

operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. 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 operations.’’; 

Whereas, since June 15, 2014, there have been over 2,000 

rockets fired by Hamas and other terrorist organizations 

from Gaza into Israel; 

Whereas Hamas uses civilian populations as human shields 

by placing its underground tunnel network and missile 

batteries in densely populated areas, and in and around 

schools, hospitals, and mosques; 

Whereas Israel drops leaflets, makes announcements, places 

phone calls and sends text messages to the Palestinian 

people in Gaza warning them in advance that an attack 

is imminent, and goes to extraordinary lengths to target 

only terrorist actors; 

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 shields; and 

Whereas Hamas, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Al-Shabaab, Islamic 

State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other foreign 


jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•SCON 41 IS 

terrorist organizations typically use innocent civilians as 

human shields: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) strongly condemns the brutal and illegal 

4 tactic by Hamas and other terrorist organizations of 

5 using innocent civilians as human shields; 

6 (2) calls on the international community to rec7 ognize the grave breaches of international law com8 mitted by Hamas in using human shields; 

9 (3) places responsibility for launching the rock10 et attacks on Hamas and other terrorist organiza11 tions, such as Islamic Jihad, in Gaza; 

12 (4) supports the sovereign right of the Govern13 ment of Israel to defend its territory and stop the 

14 rocket attacks on its citizens; 

15 (5) expresses condolences to the families of the 

16 innocent victims on both sides of the conflict; 

17 (6) supports Palestinian civilians who reject 

18 Hamas and all forms of terrorism, desiring to live in 

19 peace with their Israeli neighbors; and 

20 (7) calls on Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the 

21 use of innocent civilians as human shields by Hamas 

22 and other terrorist organizations. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS