Human Rights Watch confirmed that Israel is using white phosphorus in its military aggression on Gaza and Lebanon.


In a question-and-answer document released on Thursday, the group said that it “verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border”.

White phosphorus, according to HRW, “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”.

White phosphorus “causes severe burns, often down to the bone, that are slow to heal and likely to develop infections,” the report reads.

This is not the first time Israel has used white phosphorus in a war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

read more: https://www.palestinechronicle.com/hrw-confirms-israel-is-using-white-phosphorus-in-gaza/

archive: https://archive.ph/aJhmK#selection-1209.0-1215.101

  • sab@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Chemical warfare is fucking great when you intend to move in after - traditional bombs are too messy and destroy too much property.

    The logic is similar to Dead Kennedys’ take on the neutron bomb in their aptly named song Kill the Poor:

    Efficiency and progress is ours once more
    Now that we have the neutron bomb
    It’s nice and quick and clean and gets things done
    Away with excess enemy
    But no less value to property
    No sense in war but perfect sense at home

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      By legitimate I meant legal. WP is absolutely great for a number of other things that are supposedly frowned upon in modern combat.

      • sab@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Yes, your message was clear - there’s no mistaking you for claiming Israel’s use of it is legitimate.

        I remember thinking once this war broke our that I bet they wish they could use chemical weapons, and it seems they’ve found a workaround.