According to a human rights watchdog organization, Israel‘s military has recently employed white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon. These phosphorus weapons can result in serious burns and are thought to be especially harmful to civilians due to their indiscriminate nature.
Video footage captured on Tuesday and Wednesday in Gaza and Lebanon, according to Human Rights Watch, appeared to show airdropped white phosphorus artillery shells. This claim was vigorously refuted by Israeli authorities. Human Rights Watch claimed that two interviews with eyewitnesses on the scene who identified a distinct garlic-like scent that is a characteristic of white phosphorus supported their analysis.
The present claim made against the IDF regarding the deployment of white phosphorous in Gaza, according to an IDF spokeswoman, is categorically incorrect. Such weapons have not been used by the IDF. Requests for reaction from a representative of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went unanswered.
NBC News has not been able to independently corroborate Human Rights Watch’s assertions because reporters were not present when the strikes in Gaza and Lebanon took place.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, white phosphorus ammunition may result in “burns and irritation, heart, liver, kidney, lung, or bone damage, and death.” Using white phosphorus to make smoke screens or illumination is legal under international law, but according to human rights organizations, using it in places where it can damage civilians or by airdrop is against the law. If there were any civilians present, it has not been confirmed by NBC News. One of the world’s most populated areas is Gaza.
The United Nations treaty against the use of white phosphorus is not binding on Israel because it has not signed it. The International Red Cross echoed Human Rights Watch’s assertion that it had previously documented Israel’s use of white phosphorous in armed warfare in 2009. According to Human Rights Watch, Israel declared in 2013 that it would stop using white phosphorous except under specific situations.
The group claimed that the weapons deployed this week in Gaza and Lebanon were airburst 155 mm artillery shells, which have the ability to cover wide regions in white phosphorous.
Human Rights Watch stated in its study that the use of white phosphorous in densely populated areas of Gaza is against the need under international humanitarian law to take all practical precautions to prevent civilian injury and loss of life.
Brian Castner, the weapons inspector for Amnesty International’s crisis team, concurred in an email that the attacks in question appeared to have entailed the use of white phosphorus. Castner continued, “We have verified that Israeli artillery forces striking Gaza are armed with M825 and M825A1 155mm white phosphorus projectiles,” adding that Amnesty International has been looking into Israel’s suspected use of the substance.
According to NBC News, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was looking into the allegations.
Sara Al Saqqa, a Palestinian surgeon who works at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, claimed in a Zoom interview that she had observed wounds this week that appeared to be caused by white phosphorus. “There are some weapons that aren’t even humane to use in warfare, like white phosphorous war crime injuries. It is prohibited for anyone to utilize. I have witnessed patients suffering from these kinds of wounds, Al Saqqa said NBC News. She said, “Those little shrapnel pieces that just burn every millimeter of their bodies and just cut all the pieces of the depth of their bodies to pieces.”
A barrage of attacks that struck Gaza City on October 11 that Getty photojournalist Amhad Hasaballah claimed to have captured included white phosphorus smoke, he told NBC News. Since 2015, Hasaballah has been documenting the area with photographs, and he has won honors for his coverage of Israeli attacks in the past. The images have now been posted online and identified as showing white phosphorus.
Online rumors of Israel using white phosphorous in this week’s battle have been going around for a few days. On October 10, the official X account of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates reported that “Israeli warplanes and artillery use internationally #prohibited_white_phosphorus, destroying #Al_Karama neighborhood in the northwest of Gaza City with a continuous series of airstrikes.”
Israel looks to be preparing a ground invasion on Gaza at the time the report is released, and it has warned more than a million residents to leave the northern part of the heavily populated enclave, which is about the size of Washington, D.C., to evacuate. Since Hamas launched a series of unexpected strikes on Saturday, at least 1,300 people have died in Israel, according to the country’s military. According to the Palestinian health ministry, about 1,800 people have died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign.