Students of an art school give final touches to paintings made to sympathize with the victims of the ongoing conflict after a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Mumbai on October 8, 2023.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reportedly accused Israel late Thursday (October 12) of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in both Gaza and Lebanon against Hamas and Hezbollah militants respectively, saying that the use of such weapons puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury.
"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," the watchdog said in its Q&A statement.
HRW said it has verified videos taken in Lebanon (October 10) and Gaza (October 11) showing what it claimed as "multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border."
It has also provided links to two videos posted on social media that it said show "155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles being used, apparently as smokescreens, marking, or signaling" near the Israel-Lebanon border.
While the group has not provided links to videos showing their alleged use in Gaza, Palestinian media broadcast an unspecified number of videos in recent days showing thin plumes of white smoke lining the sky over Gaza that they said was caused by such munitions.
The Palestinian clips and HRW's allegations could not be independently verified, Reuters reported.
Israel's Response
Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for Hamas's attack in its southern region, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of men, women, and children.
As of Friday, (October 13), there have been almost 3,000 deaths on both sides.
When asked for comment on the allegations, Israeli military officials said it was "currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza," while they have not provided comment on the allegations of their use in Lebanon.
In 2013, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said it was phasing out white phosphorus smokescreen munitions used during its 2008-09 Gaza offensive, which drew war crimes allegations from various rights groups. However, they did not say whether it would also review the use of its weaponized white phosphorus, which was designed to incinerate enemy positions.
What is White Phosphorus?
White phosphorus is a chemical that ignites when exposed to oxygen, bursting into extremely hot flames that are difficult to put out and produce copious amounts of thick white smoke.
The use of munitions containing white phosphorus could be legal on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets, or burn bunkers and buildings. Because of this, white phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions, but it could cause serious burns and start fires.
It is considered an incendiary weapon under Protocol III of the Convention on the Prohibition of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons. At the same time, the protocol prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against military targets located among civilians, although Israel has not signed it and was not bound by it.
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