Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have raised concerns over the use of white phosphorus munitions in recent Israeli strikes on Gaza City port.
Video footage reviewed by Brian Castner of Amnesty International suggests the deployment of white phosphorus.
Human Rights Watch conducted an analysis and confirmed its use based on the video and witness testimonies describing the characteristic stifling smell.
The use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas has been condemned for the risk it poses to civilians, causing excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. International humanitarian law requires parties to take precautions to avoid civilian harm during military operations.
It would actually be preferable to use cluster bombs, I’d think. It’s a small area, it’s actually pretty feasible to sweep it for the duds after the action dies down.
WP can’t really be readily controlled, though. Light enough to fall slowly or be blown by strong wind, sticky, resistant to most methods of fire extinguishing. Makes big fires, those are also hard to control.
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If smoke was desired, then supplementary non-lethal smoke munitions could be used. That is not an acceptable rationale. Israel does not lack launching platforms and should not lack for smoke munitions.
