Israel was allegedly deploying white phosphorous in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, according to a Human Rights Watch assessment. According to the organisation, it happened as the Israeli Defence Forces pound the Gaza Strip, levelling structures and killing thousands of people.According to Human Rights Watch, verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza show several airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively.I saw what white phosphorus did to people in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead in 2008/9 – fires and deep burns causing death. Unlawful to airburst over densely populated areas like Gaza City. https://t.co/aSr20p8EB6 https://t.co/LsM8xPZq34— Fred Abrahams (@fredabrahams) October 13, 2023Heres what Human Rights Watch said:Taking it to official release, Human Rights Watch stated, “Human Rights Watch has determined based on verified video and witness accounts that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively. The videos show multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.”“White phosphorus, which can be used as a smokescreen or a weapon, has the potential to cause civilian harm due to the severe burns it causes and its lingering long-term effects on survivors. Its use in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law that parties to the conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life. It also highlights the need to reexamine the status and adequacy of Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), currently the only international law dedicated to governing incendiary weapons,” it further reads.The use of white phosphorous in heavily populated areas of Gaza, it was said, is against the need of international humanitarian law to take all practical steps to prevent harm to or death of civilians. Given the approach shown in movies of air-bursting white phosphorus missiles, this worry is reinforced.The Israeli military claimed, however, that it was “at this time unaware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza.” It chose not to respond to the rights groups accusations that they were used in Lebanon.
