The United States on Wednesday described as “incredibly troubling” reports from the New York Times newspaper that the Israeli military allegedly used Palestinians as human shields in the war in the Gaza Strip.

According to the American newspaper, Israeli army units deployed in five cities in the Palestinian territory forced civilians to carry out tasks such as searching for explosives or searching inside Hamas tunnels, with the aim of protecting the soldiers.

“If the facts presented in this article are accurate, they are completely unacceptable,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said when asked during the press briefing.

“Nothing can justify the use of civilians as human shields. This could constitute a violation not only of international humanitarian law but also of the Israeli army’s own code of conduct,” he stressed.

The spokesman spoke of an ongoing investigation into the ranks of the Israeli military.

“Even if there is an investigation, if they find violations, people need to be held accountable, and they need to take steps to ensure that these practices don’t happen again,” he said.

The New York Times specifically cites a teenager, then 17, who said Israeli soldiers forced him to walk handcuffed in front of them to search for explosives before being released without charge.

The United States has repeatedly expressed concern over the conduct of the war in Gaza and the treatment of civilians since Israel launched its operation a year ago in response to the unprecedented attack by Hamas.

These statements rarely have any consequences, although President Joe Biden has frozen a billion-dollar arms shipment to Israel.

The United States and Israel, for their part, accuse Hamas of using civilians in Gaza as human shields.