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The
War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings & Torture |
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White Phosphorus Weapons in South
Lebanon |
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“Israel has acknowledged for the first time that it attacked
Hezbollah targets during the second Lebanon war with phosphorus shells. White
phosphorus causes very painful and often lethal chemical burns to those hit
by it, and until recently Israel maintained that it only uses such bombs to
mark targets or territory. The announcement that the Israel Defense Forces
had used phosphorus bombs in the war in Lebanon was made by Minister Jacob
Edery, in charge of government-Knesset relations. […] Edery did not specify
where and against what types of targets phosphorus munitions were used.
During the war several foreign media outlets reported that Lebanese civilians
carried injuries characteristic of attacks with phosphorus, a substance that
burns when it comes to contact with air. In one CNN report, a casualty with serious
burns was seen lying in a South Lebanon hospital. In another case, Dr.
Hussein Hamud al-Shel, who works at Dar al-Amal hospital in Ba’albek, said
that he had received three corpses ‘entirely shriveled with black-green
skin,’ a phenomenon characteristic of phosphorus injuries. […]” Excerpt
from a Haaretz article
from October 22nd, 2006. |
White phosphorus attack on Lebanon |
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The White Phosphorus Trilogy: White
Phosphorus Weapons in Iraq White
Phosphorus Weapons in Gaza White
Phosphorus Weapons: FOIA Requests The Video Archive: White
Phosphorus Attacks on Gaza - CNN Documentary from January 25th,
2009 White
Phosphorus Attack on Falluja - raw footage from CNN from November 2004 November 8th, 2006 - Phosphorus Shells Used in
Lebanon Invasion, UN Says 1 news article
from the Independent October 23rd, 2006 - Israel Admits it Used
Phosphorus Weapons 1 news
article from the Guardian October 22nd, 2006 - Israel Admits Using
Phosphorus Bombs during War in Lebanon 2 news
articles from Haaretz & BBC News September 30th, 2006 - When Rockets and Phosphorous
Cluster 1 news
article from Haaretz September 12th, 2006 - IDF Commander: We Fired More
than a Million Cluster Bombs 1 news article
from Haaretz July 28th, 2006 - Doctors Suspect Chemical
Weapons 1 news article
from Reuters July 26th, 2006 - Israel Accused of Using
Phosphorous Bombs in Lebanon 1 news article
from Ma’an News Agency July 25th, 2006 - Civilians Bear Fear, Injuries,
Death, Grief 1 news article
from the Associated Press July 20th, 2006 - Belgian Doctor: Israel Using
Chemical Weapons 1 news article
from Expatica |
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2007 - Lebanon: Post-Conflict
Environmental Assessment Report by the
United Nations Environment Programme (17,5 MB) “[…] White phosphorus (WP) “UNEP investigated the use of white phosphorus (WP)
during site visits south of the Litani River. Indications were found that
WP-containing artillery shells were used as smoke screens or to mark targets.
Some shells with WP signatures were seen in very limited numbers on the open
ground close to villages or towns in the region of Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun.
Shells containing active white phosphorus were also seen during a visit to
the Lebanese Explosive Ordnance Destruction (EOD) site in the south, at the
Marjayoun Army Base. “UNEP, together with Lebanese Army experts,
recovered one unexploded 8.1 cm light green mortar shell in Deir Mimas, where
local residents had reported seeing white smoke plumes in various attacks, as
well as the ‘strange’ burning of houses and olive trees. UNEP destroyed the
shell with the assistance of Lebanese EOD experts and confirmed that it
contained WP. WP-containing 8.1 cm mortar shells were used mainly in UN area
number 6 (between the Litani and Awali Rivers). The IDF officially confirmed
the use of WP on 21 October 2006. “The environmental impact of the use of WP in
Lebanon was limited to the burning of olive trees and houses. However, given
that the efficiency of the mortar shells was relatively low, the use of WP
has created an EOD problem. Residents of areas where this type of ammunition
was used should be made aware of its presence and EOD teams should take the
necessary safety precautions when conducting their work. […]” August 2006 - Fatal Strikes/Israel’s
Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon Report
by Human Rights Watch “[…] This report documents serious violations of
international humanitarian law (the laws of war) by Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) in Lebanon between July 12 and July 27, 2006, as well as the July 30
attack in Qana. During this period, the IDF killed an estimated 400 people,
the vast majority of them civilians, and that number climbed to over 500 by
the time this report went to print. The Israeli government claims it is
taking all possible measures to minimize civilian harm, but the cases
documented here reveal a systematic failure by the IDF to distinguish between
combatants and civilians. “Since the start of the conflict, Israeli forces
have consistently launched artillery and air attacks with limited or dubious
military gain but excessive civilian cost. In dozens of attacks, Israeli
forces struck an area with no apparent military target. In some cases, the
timing and intensity of the attack, the absence of a military target, as well
as return strikes on rescuers, suggest that Israeli forces deliberately
targeted civilians. “The Israeli government claims that it targets only
Hezbollah, and that fighters from the group are using civilians as human
shields, thereby placing them at risk. Human Rights Watch found no cases in
which Hezbollah deliberately used civilians as shields to protect them from
retaliatory IDF attack. Hezbollah occasionally did store weapons in or near
civilian homes and fighters placed rocket launchers within populated areas or
near U.N. observers, which are serious violations of the laws of war because
they violate the duty to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian
casualties. However, those cases do not justify the IDF’s extensive use of
indiscriminate force which has cost so many civilian lives. In none of the
cases of civilian deaths documented in this report is there evidence to
suggest that Hezbollah forces or weapons were in or near the area that the
IDF targeted during or just prior to the attack. “By consistently failing to distinguish between
combatants and civilians, Israel has violated one of the most fundamental tenets
of the laws of war: the duty to carry out attacks on only military targets.
The pattern of attacks during the Israeli offensive in Lebanon suggests that
the failures cannot be explained or dismissed as mere accidents; the extent
of the pattern and the seriousness of the consequences indicate the
commission of war crimes. […]” July 2006 - Israel/Lebanon: Israel and
Hizbullah Must Spare Civilians Report
by Amnesty International USA “[…] In addition to the prohibition on the use of
inherently indiscriminate weapons, IHL prohibits weapons that cause
superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (e.g. blinding laser weapons).
The use of other weapons is governed by the fundamental principles of IHL.
They should not be used to target civilians and should not be used in
indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks. “There are reports that Israel has used incendiary
weapons, such as white phosphorous shells, in attacks in Lebanon. Protocol
III on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (a
Protocol additional to the 1980 UN Convention on the Prohibition or
Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons) prohibits the use of
such weapons against civilians. And it prohibits making any military
objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by
incendiary weapons. According to the ICRC, it is unclear whether this latter
rule is customary law. “Israel is not a party to Protocol III on Prohibitions
or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons. […]” May 1996 - Civilian Pawns Report
by Human Rights Watch “[…] During the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982,
the Israeli shelling of villages in southern Lebanon in July 1993, and
subsequent shelling attacks, there have been numerous allegations of Israeli
forces using phosphorus against civilians. The available circumstantial
evidence of the illegal use of phosphorus, and/or other incendiaries, by
Israel against Lebanese civilians during the 1993 events and afterwards is so
compelling as to warrant serious investigation and a public response by the
Israeli government. The evidence reviewed by Human Rights Watch includes:
empty artillery shells, or fragments of artillery shells, with headstamps
indicating they had contained phosphorus; eyewitness testimonies of shell
attacks which caused what were said to be phosphorus burns; injuries on
victims that were consistent with phosphorus burns; hospital reports of
treatment of burn injuries consistent with phosphorus burns; doctors’
testimonies of the treatment of what they said were phosphorus burns; an
Israeli press report about the use by Israeli forces in Lebanon of phosphorus
as a weapon; and other reports of Israel’s alleged use of phosphorus as a
weapon in Lebanon. “During research on the July 1993 events, Human
Rights Watch obtained testimonies on three incidents in which the use of
phosphorus was alleged. Two of these occurred during daylight, the third at
night time. It is assumed that daytime use of white phosphorus as a flare or
marker is not justified, because smoke would be most effective during the
day, whereas white phosphorus is most effective after dark. “The first of these incidents occurred in the
village of Kafr Ruman, on the outskirts of Nabatiyeh just underneath SLA/IDF
positions, on Monday, July 26. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, Leila
Hassan Aloush, 45, decided to walk the short distance from her family’s home
to the home of a relative, Munifa Ali Saleh, 51, during a brief lull in the
shelling, which had been continuous for most of the day. According to Aloush,
she was going down the stairs into the basement of her relative’s house,
where the whole family had gathered: ‘At that point, a shell fell near our
house, but everybody there was inside the shelter [basement], so no one was
hurt. Then a second shell fell near the shelter [basement] that I was just
entering. There was an explosion and then smoke: yellow, green, red and
black, and then a big flame. I began to choke, and received burns to both my
arms and my back. These are not normal burns, but phosphorus burns. My cousin
Munifa suffered similar burns, but not as severely. I was taken to the
Secours Libanais hospital, where I stayed nine days. Then I was transferred
to the Greek Orthodox hospital in Beirut. The doctors have told me that I
will need to undergo plastic surgery on my right arm.’ “Human Rights Watch was able to ascertain that both
women suffered burns to their hands, arms and back. A surgeon at the nearby
Secours Populaire Libanais hospital, interviewed separately, claimed he and
his colleagues had treated nineteen cases of phosphorus burns during the
fourth week of July, including Leila Aloush and Munifa Saleh. In those two
particular cases, he said, ‘we removed the phosphorus from the women's skin
with pincers. Phosphorus is crystalline and lights up.’ He said that
phosphorus was used by Israeli forces ‘to scare people,’ and that it had
mostly been used on Monday, July 26. […] “Ms. Aloush showed Human Rights Watch the fragments
of a shell which, she claimed, was from the July 1993 attack. After cleaning
the fragment, which was the base part of a 155mm artillery shell, Human Rights
Watch discovered the following headstamp: RM 0-2-118 1957 155MM M110, which
is a standard U.S. designation. The code RM 0-2-118 1957 suggests that the
shell was probably made in France or Germany in 1957, while the code M110
indicates that the shell is most likely to have contained white phosphorus.
[…]” April 23rd, 1996 - Artillery Manual Cannon
Gunnery - FM 6-40: Chapter 13/Special Munition Excerpt of a Field
Manual by the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps (5,6 MB) “[…] Smoke projectiles are used for smoke screens,
obscuring smoke, and marking targets for aircraft. “[…] a. Types. The three types of smoke projectiles
areas follows: “(1) Hexachloroethane. Hexachloroethane (HC) smoke
(smk) projectiles are available for 105-mm and 155-mm howitzers. They are
used for screening, obscuration, spotting, and signaling purposes. The
projectile has no casualty-producing effects. This base-ejection projectile
is ballistically similar to the HE projectile. It is fitted with a mechanical
time fuze M565 or M577. The round expels smoke canisters that emit smoke for
a period of 40 to 90 seconds. “(2) Burster-type white phosphorus. White phosphorus
projectiles are available for 105-mm and 155-mm howitzers. They are
bursting-tube type projectiles that can be fired with point-detonating (PD)
or MTSQ fuzes. The projectile has an incendiary-producing effect and is
ballistically similar to the HE projectile. Normally, shell WP is employed
for its incendiary effect. The projectile also can be used for screening,
spotting, and signaling purposes. “(3) M825 white phosphorus. The M825 WP projectile
is an FA-delivered 155-mm base-ejection projectile designed to produce a
smoke screen on the ground for a duration of 5 to 15 minutes. It consists of
two major components--the projectile carrier and the payload. The projectile
carrier delivers the payload to the target. The payload consists of 116
WP-saturated felt wedges. The smoke screen is produced when a predetermined
fuze action causes ejection of the payload from the projectile. After
ejection, the WP-saturated felt wedges in the payload fall to the ground in
an elliptical pattern. Each wedge then becomes a point or source of smoke. The
M825 is ballistically similar to the M483A1 (DPICM) family of projectiles.
[…]” |
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White phosphorus shells and its targets |
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WP projectile |
Young boy at hospital |
WP victim |
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Background 1) A lebanese civilian flees from white phosphorus
shells - June/July 2006 - Source unknown; White phosphorus
shells and its targets 1) A
white phosphorus mortar shell was found by UNEP at Deir Mimas. -
September/October 2006 - United Nations Environment Programme; 2)
Young lebanese boy, hospitalized after WP attack - 2006 - Source unknown; 3) Screenshot from a CNN documentary on the use of
white phosphorus by Israeli forces. The documentary was probably broadcasted
on July 24th, 2006. The screenshot shows a young boy, who survived
a white phosphorus attack. - July 2006 - CNN; |
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