Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz on Thursday ordered the army to implement immediately the High Court of Justice's decision outlawing the use of Palestinian "human shields" during IDF raids, Israel Radio reported.

The IDF has also begun to formulate alternative arrest procedures that will allow the army to continue making far- reaching raids while minimizing the danger to soldiers, said the radio.

According to the procedures, the IDF is permitted to continue practices such as sending dogs into the homes of wanted men, destroying the homes in which they are hiding if they refuse to surrender.

IDF officials said soldiers are expected to report any use of human shields and the military would examine and deal with any such cases.

The high court's decision, announced earlier Thursday, also prohibits the IDF "early warning" procedure, in which soldiers could use Palestinian civilians as shields only if the civilians had explicitly agreed to collaboration and if the activity did not put their lives in danger.

"Early warning" was the IDF's response to a 2002 temporary injunction outlawing the use of human shields. The Thursday ruling reinforced the injunction.

During mass arrest raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the past, the IDF has used Palestinian civilians as a ploy in capturing wanted militants, by forcing civilians to approach the homes and hideouts of wanted people.

In some of those cases, the civilians were caught in the crossfire and were wounded or killed.

Chief Justice Aharon Barak, ruling in response to petitions from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Adalah human rights organization, said the practice violates international law.

Source: Xinhua