An Israeli soldier stands on top of an armoured personnel carrier near the Israeli-Gaza border on July 15, 2014 near Sderot, Israel. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

The Israeli Defence Ministry will appeal against a supreme court ruling banning the use of Palestinian human shields in raids, officials said.

The Israeli supreme court ruled last Thursday that the 'human shield' procedure used by the IDF when detaining Palestinian terror suspects is illegal and violates international law.

Israeli Defense Forces made use of 'human shield' procedures on 1,200 occasions over the last five years, officials said.

Human rights groups have frequently condemned the use of human shields.

In light of the ruling the Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered the IDF to freeze the use of the ‘human shield’ and ‘early warning’ procedures that it uses in its arrest operations.

In the meantime the minister has demanded the court ruling is reviewed.

The court ruled out both the placing of civilians in front of soldiers on operations and an "early warning" procedure employed by the army.

With the 'early warning' procedure the Israeli army would force local Palestinians to approach the homes of militants and tell them to surrender.

In 2002 the supreme court issued a temporary injunction against the practice after a teenager was killed when troops made him negotiate with a wanted militant.

Below: 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammed Badwan, is chained to the front of an Israeli armoured vehicle in Biddo

Belfast Telegraph