Human Rights Watch Accuses Israel of Using White Phosphorus In Gaza and Lebanon, IDF Vehemently Denies
Human Rights Watch, a left-of-center human rights nonprofit, accused Israel’s military this week of using white phosphorus weapons in Gaza and Lebanon during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Videos posted to social media on Tuesday and Wednesday allegedly show the Israeli Defense Forces dropping white phosphorus munitions over Gaza and parts of Lebanon, according to an assessment by Human Rights Watch. These smokescreen munitions cause severe burns and indiscriminate harm to civilians, but are not illegal and are “not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions,” according to Reuters.
Human Rights Watch additionally based their accusation in part on two witnesses who described the attack as smelling like garlic — a distinct characteristic of white phosphorus.
NBC News and Reuters both noted in their reports on the HRW accusation that neither outlet had independently verified Israel using white phosphorus munitions. Additionally, CNN spoke with an Israeli official who “categorically” denied the use of the munitions as the outlet also noted that “CNN has spoken to experts, we cannot categorically conclude that or independently verify that” Israel has used white phosphorus.
The Washington Post, however, did authenticate a video that “appears to be white phosphorus released over Gaza City on Wednesday.”
In a statement to NBC News an IDF spokesperson denied the allegation: “The current 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.”
Per NBC News:
White phosphorus munitions can potentially “cause burns and irritation, liver, kidney, heart, lung, or bone damage, and death,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. International law allows for certain uses of white phosphorus, such as creating smoke screens or generating light, but human rights groups say that the deployment of white phosphorus in areas where it could harm civilians or via airdrop is prohibited by international human rights laws. NBC News has not confirmed if any civilians were in the areas where white phosphorus was allegedly used. Gaza is one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
Israel has not signed and is not bound by the United Nations convention on the use of white phosphorus. Human Rights Watch says that it previously documented the use of white phosphorus by Israel in military conflict in 2009, a claim that was also echoed by the International Red Cross. Israel said in 2013 it would no longer use white phosphorus except in limited circumstances, according to Human Rights Watch.
The munitions used this week in Gaza and Lebanon, the group said, were airburst 155 mm artillery projectiles, which can shower large areas with white phosphorus.
“The use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life,” Human Rights Watch wrote in their initial assessment.
The conflict in the region has intensified over the last week after Hamas attacked southern Israel through land, sea, and air — killing some 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians. Israel declared war on Hamas in response, and began a bombing campaign in Gaza that has killed 1,900 people, including 614 children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
