The IDF has made frequent use of what is known as “knocking on the roof”: Militants are warned by phone when a residential building used to store arms will be bombed, and told to vacate the premised together with their neighbors. The weapons caches are hit only after the residents leave.
Hamas has tried placing civilians on the roofs of such buildings when the phone call warning comes in. In these cases, the IDF fired antitank missiles near the building, and in a few cases the residents left.
Thanks to reader Nathan Hecht for the pointer.
I’ve heard of soldiers, including Israeli soldiers, using the other side’s civilians as human shields to protect themselves. But it takes a special kind of depravity to use your own civilians as human shields to protect weapons stores.