Paris – After cutting off water, medicine and fuel and imposing forced displacement, the Israeli occupation forces' methods of killing and torturing Palestinians seem to have not yet healed and introduced new weapons into its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
An investigation by Amnesty International's Crisis Response Programme documented the use of white phosphorus shells by the Israeli army in densely populated areas in the besieged enclave and southern Lebanon.
This investigation comes in the wake of the Israeli occupation bombardment of the Gaza Strip in an unprecedented manner, and its perpetration of indiscriminate and unlawful attacks against unarmed civilians and displaced people in places they believed were safe.
Compelling evidence
Amnesty International relied on testimonies from doctors and patients who had suffered burns, as well as the location of videos and photos, which confirmed beyond any doubt the Israeli military's use of white phosphorus in southern Lebanon and Gaza.
Aymeric Elwyn, a weapons expert at the organization in France, said that although there were different types of explosives, it was easy to identify the phosphorus shells fired by Israel from howitzers, because they feature fireworks-like munitions that light up in the sky, and ignite when they come into contact with the air, causing thick smoke and a very unpleasant smell, according to him.
Elwin confirmed in his speech to Al Jazeera Net that the organization documented these cases in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, considering that this is not new, and that Israel committed the same crime in 2009 on a large scale in the Strip, and documented the organization at the time very serious injuries among the civilian population.
White phosphorus is mainly used to create a thick smoke barrier or to identify targets. People exposed to the incendiary substance can suffer from respiratory damage and organ failure. Burns are also difficult to treat, and cannot be extinguished with water, as exposure to 10% of the human body leads to death.
The investigation with its dated details is available to the nations of the world, the International Criminal Court and all authorities that wish to use it to achieve justice.
In a related context, the arms expert himself confirmed that the organization submitted an appeal to the French government to tell the Israelis to stop using this type of ammunition, because France - as a country with a responsibility to ensure respect for international law - is obliged to do so, before adding, "But we have not received any response from it so far."
Gaza is being bombed with internationally banned white phosphorus. Please help by spreading the real picture and not following the lies #FreeGaza #IsraelTerrorists #طوفان_الاقصى_ #طوفان_الاقص #IsraelPalestineWar #palastine #Gaza #FreeGaza #FreePalestineFromHamas pic.twitter.com/qJiAXaEB8v
— Rammas || REMAS (@NajjarrRem56834) October 12, 2023
American guns
On October 109, the IDF deployed 155mm M<> howitzers next to the city of Sderot, which had previously been attacked by Hamas and located about one kilometer from the Israel-Gaza perimeter fence.
Several verified images showed M825 and M825E1 artillery shells, also named D528, the Pentagon identification code for white phosphorus-based missiles, the weapons expert said.
The howitzers have a range of about 22 kilometers, meaning that firing from Sderot would make them within the northern half of the Gaza Strip.
Additional video evidence seen by the NGO showed that artillery shells explode in the air, releasing dense white particles that produce smoke, which is consistent with the use of artillery shells.
These shells are also distinguished by a characteristic pale green color and red and yellow streaks. Although these are US symbols and designations, Amnesty International said it was "unable to ascertain where these missiles were manufactured".
An Israeli soldier modifies a 155mm artillery shell near the border with Lebanon (French)
Gaza and Lebanese Towns
In recent days, several videos have indicated the use of artillery shells containing 155mm white phosphorus in northern Gaza, particularly in Gaza port and nearby hotels.
According to the organization's investigation, the geographic location of the firing of these munitions was determined on October 11, at coordinates 31.518279° 34.445217°, in the vicinity of Bank of Palestine tower, in the heavily damaged Zeitoun area, near the Unknown Soldier Park.
Amnesty International said on Tuesday that the Israeli army fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus, an incendiary weapon, during military operations in the afternoon and in the towns of Al-Mari and Aita al-Shaab along Lebanon's southern border between 10 and 16 October.
Specialists interviewed the mayor of al-Dhahira, a rescuer who helped transport injured civilians to a nearby hospital, and an emergency doctor working at the hospital that received the wounded.
Elwin stressed to Al Jazeera Net that this type of ammunition is not intended for use in densely populated areas, because it "does not make the possibility of distinguishing between a military target and another civilian possible, but to identify targets or to hide moving military targets and to illuminate combat areas."
"Today we sound the alarm to save lives as much as possible, because what we are seeing are crimes and a heinous massacre. For example, we documented the case of a family of 15 in Gaza that was completely liquidated."
The same expert pointed out that the organization has collaborators in the Gaza Strip to provide it with some information, because the Israeli authorities have refused to grant it mandates to work there since 2012.
Certificates
According to Dr. Haitham Nasr, an emergency doctor at the Lebanese Italian Hospital, on 16 and 17 October, medical teams treated nine cases from the towns of Dhuhra, Yarin and Marwahin who were suffering from shortness of breath and coughing from white phosphorus inhalation.
Ali Safieddine, regional director of the Lebanese Civil Defense, who facilitated the transfer of injured civilians to hospital, said civil society affiliated with the Civil Defence received appeals for help from residents who spoke of "shells that emit a foul odor and cause suffocation when inhaled".
"We couldn't even see our hands, because of the thick white smoke that covered the city all night, until the morning," Safieddine said in his testimony.
"We couldn't see more than 5 or 6 meters in front of us, and people were fleeing their homes hysterically. When some returned two days later, their homes were still on fire."
"Even today, we still find remnants – the size of a fist – that ignite again when exposed to air."
pic.twitter.com/xp5RpZW65f
🎥 — (@marginalemedia) October 11, 2023
Legal position
White phosphorus munitions are incendiary weapons subject to Protocol III to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, which Lebanon and Palestine acceded to in 2017 and from which Israel has refrained.
This international provision prohibits the use of air-dropped incendiary weapons in areas with a "high concentration of civilians."
Gilles Dever, an ICC lawyer, criticized the protocol because it defines incendiary weapons as "any weapon or ammunition primarily designed to set fire to objects or burn people."
He continued in his speech to the island that this loophole gives an argument to the occupation army to say that it uses white phosphorus in order to create a curtain of smoke only, pointing out at the same time that the text applies to aerial bombardment, not to ground artillery.
However, the same lawyer said that Israel "cannot claim any legitimacy for these bombings thanks to the rules of international humanitarian law, even if it does not wish to ratify this international treaty."
Under the Statute of the Criminal Court, counsel asserted that Israel's abuses and use of white phosphorus against civilians constituted war crimes.
"After all, we are not countries with armies and police, we are an organization that documents human rights violations and reminds states of their obligations to ensure respect for international law and human rights, to put an end to these crimes," he concludes.