On Thursday, rights group Human Rights Watch accused Israel of using white phosphorus in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, saying using such weapons puts civilians at risk of severe and long-term injury. White phosphorus is widely deployed in war zones and can cause severe burns. The chemical is used in air-delivered bombs, cluster munitions, and artillery shells. It is classified as a conventional weapon, although the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’ Protocol (III) on Incendiary Weapons bars their use near civilians.
The rights group said it had verified social media videos showing “multiple airbursts of 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles fired over the Gaza port and two rural locations along the border with Lebanon.” The weapon has a dense, garlic-like smoke with a stifling odor and can leave burning wedges of sand or paper that can burn people and set nearby homes, fields, and structures on fire.
According to the rights group, Israeli forces began bombarding the Khuza’a neighborhood on January 10 with heavy high-explosive and white phosphorus artillery. On the evening of January 13, the army continued the assault, firing white phosphorus on residential areas near a tunnel beneath the Israel-Lebanon border. The assault left a trail of burning incandescent debris through the neighborhood, including the destroyed multistory home of Majid al-Najjar and a neighboring building that was completely burned. In a shattered window frame of the house was a white phosphorus canister and a base of a white phosphorus shell marked THS89D112-003 155MM M825E1.
On the morning of January 15, an Israeli attack on a UN compound in central Gaza City included white phosphorus. Three people were wounded, and fires that destroyed offices, warehouses, warehoused food supplies, vehicles, and furniture extensively damaged the UN facility. The attack also injured at least 13 children, some severely. Inflicting such a devastating fire in a densely populated urban area magnifies the danger to civilians and violates international humanitarian law.
In a telephone interview with the rights group, a former IDF soldier who took part in Operation Cast Lead in 2009 said he saw Israeli soldiers use white phosphorus in the residential areas of Gaza City and other places in 2009. The Israeli military last year claimed it was phasing out the use of the smokescreen munition after coming under widespread criticism for its 2008-2009 offensive in Gaza.
The rights group called for an independent investigation of the use of white phosphorus and the prosecution of those responsible under international humanitarian law. It also urged the international community to allow entry into Gaza for medical experts and the necessary specialized equipment and supplies to treat persons injured by the substance and facilitate the evacuation out of Gaza of those who need treatment outside the country. It also urged the UN to examine the issue of the use of white phosphorus in Gaza and its investigations into the conduct of hostilities in the region, including by the Secretary General-appointed Board of Inquiry and any future inquiries.