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Israel appears to use white phosphorus in Gaza, video shows [1]
['Meg Kelly']
Date: 2023-10-12
Video captured on Oct. 11 appears to show Israeli forces using white phosphorus in an attack on the Gaza City port, according to analysis by Human Rights Watch. (Video: The Washington Post)
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Video filmed on Wednesday of an Israeli strike on Gaza City port appears to show the use of white phosphorus, according to Brian Castner, a weapons investigator with Amnesty International, who reviewed the video at The Washington Post’s request. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Human Rights Watch published an analysis Thursday confirming white phosphorus was used at the port, based in part on the same video in addition to two witnesses who noted the stifling, characteristic smell.
The Israel Defense Forces denied the weapon’s use in a statement on Friday, saying the “accusation made against the IDF regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false. The IDF has not deployed the use of such munitions.” It provided no additional evidence to support this statement.
The video, which was verified by The Post, shows two artillery shells fired in quick succession toward the target. When the artillery-fired munition explodes, the white phosphorus automatically ignites in the air, creating white lines followed by a thick smoke.
Human Rights Watch identified airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles were used in the strike. They condemned the use of the chemical, which can severely burn people and set fire to civilian structures, in such a densely populated area.
“Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement Thursday.
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A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent said the medics working for the organization had seen injuries consistent with the use of white phosphorus.
International humanitarian law requires parties to take all feasible precautions to prevent harm to civilians that can result from military operations.
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While there are legitimate uses of white phosphorus, using the munition, “against any military objective within concentrations of civilians is prohibited unless the military objective is clearly separated from the civilians,” Peter Herby wrote in a 2009 opinion for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
It is not clear if this incident would be considered a violation of the laws of armed conflict, Castner wrote in an email.
“We would need to know more about the intended target of this attack, and the intended use of the white phosphorus, to make a definite legal judgment about this particular case,” Castner wrote. “But generally, any attacks that fail to discriminate between civilians and military forces can potentially be a violation of the laws of war.”
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Israel repeatedly used white phosphorus during its 22-day long campaign in Gaza that spanned the end of 2008 to early 2009, including over populated areas, killing and injuring civilians, and violating International Humanitarian Law, a 2009 report from Human Rights Watch found.
A photograph taken near the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Monday shows Israeli forces in possession of at least seven projectiles that have markings consistent with those used to deliver white phosphorus, according to a munitions database maintained by CAT-UXO.
Palestinian officials said more than 1,500 people in Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated places in the world, have been killed and some 6,600 injured as a result of Israeli strikes that came in response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.
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[1] Url:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/12/white-phosphorus-israel-gaza-strike-video/
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