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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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January 12th,
2009 - 1 Dead, Dozens Injured by Suspected White Phosphorus Munitions News article from the Los
Angeles Times |
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1 Dead, Dozens
Injured in Gaza by Suspected White Phosphorus Munitions Doctors treating the wounded say the shelling apparently contained the
intensely burning, toxic munition. Villagers say the firing came from the
Israeli border. By Richard Boudreaux & Yasser Ahmad Los Angeles Times January 12, 2009 Reporting from Jerusalem and
Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip - Palestinian villagers said the shelling came from
the direction of the Israeli border, less than a mile away, scattering
flaming objects in their midst and burning down 20 homes and the local United
Nations-run school. "One landed in my
kitchen and caused a fire," said Zohair Mohammed abu Rejila, 35. "I
went to put it out, but another one landed on Mayar, my baby daughter. It was
like a block of fire, a piece of plastic on fire. When I knocked it off her,
it exploded and out came this heavy white smoke with a very bad smell." Doctors who treated Abu
Rejila, his family and dozens of neighbors in southern Gaza said they were
apparent victims of white phosphorus fired from Israeli artillery. One woman
was killed. They were the first
suspected casualties of the munitions, which armies use as smoke screens for
their movements or as incendiary devices, during Israel's 16-day-old assault
on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Yousef abu Rish, director of
the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, said 55 people from nearby Khoza were
treated for burns, breathing difficulties, and throat and eye irritation
after exposure to toxic white smoke from shells fired just after midnight
Sunday. Abu Rish said he believed
the smoke was white phosphorus gas, which is released when artillery bursts
send scores of phosphorus wafers into the air that burst into flames. "We need experts to
test these shells," he said, "but we see the dangerous
results." Capt. Guy Spigelman, an
Israeli spokesman, said the army was not aware of any military activity in
the area at the time. He would not comment on whether the army was using
white phosphorus. Marc Garlasco, a senior
military analyst for Human Rights Watch, said that in recent days he had
observed Israeli artillery firing multiple airbursts of white phosphorus over
the border toward the Gaza City area. Abu Rejila said he and his
family escaped before flames destroyed their apartment. His wife and daughter
were being treated at Nasser Hospital. Hanan Annajar, 41, was
killed during the attack. Her son said a projectile hit her father's home,
which burst into flames. External link: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-phosphorus12-2009jan12,0,2138761.story Israelis Rain ‘Phosphorous
Bombs’ Over Gaza By Mel Frykberg Inter Press Service January 12, 2009 Ramallah, Jan 12 -
"There is no doubt that Israel is using phosphorous bombs over Gaza.
Israel is flagrantly violating the Fourth Geneva Convention," says Raji
Sourani, head of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza. "This is not the first
time we have documented Israel using this kind of prohibited weapon against
Gaza's civilian population," Sourani told IPS on phone from Gaza. Human Rights Watch (HRW)
confirmed Sourani's assessment in a statement it released on Friday. Its
researchers said they had seen "multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired
white phosphorous over Gaza city." "I've been on the
border for the last few days watching the Israeli artillery firing white
phosphorus shells into refugee camps," Marc Garlasco, senior military
analyst at HRW told France TV channel 24. Ann Sophie Bonefeld from the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jerusalem was more
cautious. "We haven't been able to confirm if Israel is using
phosphorous bombs in Gaza," she told IPS. Chiara Stefanini of the
World Health Organisation (WHO) in Jerusalem told IPS, "We have no
evidence of phosphorous being used at this point in time. It is still too
early to comment." Terrifying pictures released
by Israeli military planes of white clouds blanketing the skies of Gaza have
filled the screens of Al-Jazeera television every night. Israeli government spokesman
Mark Regev was unable to tell Al-Jazeera whether the Israeli Defence Forces
(IDF) were using this controversial weapon, and referred the network to IDF
spokeswoman Major Avital Leibovitch during an interview Sunday. "We don't discuss what
weapons we use," Leibovitch told Al-Jazeera. "But I can assure you
we do not use any weapons that are prohibited by international law. There are
other nations that use phosphorous bombs, and we have the right not to
comment on this," she added. Britain and the U.S. used
phosphorous bombs in Iraq, particularly during the Fallujah campaign. The Geneva Treaty of 1980
stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in
civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its
use as a smokescreen or for illumination. This is not the first time
Israel has been accused of using phosphorous bombs in crowded civilian areas
in Gaza. Several years ago, doctors in Gaza reported seeing strange wounds on
those injured during attacks by Israeli drones, which constantly monitor Gaza
from the air. The wounds consisted of many
small holes, often invisible to X-rays, and burns caused by heat so intense
that many required amputation because of the extensive burning. Habas Al-Wahid, head of
emergency at the Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza city told journalists then
that in several cases the legs of the injured were sliced from their bodies
"as if a saw was used to cut through the bone." But there was no
evidence of ordinary metal shrapnel in or near the wounds. At Shifa Hospital in Gaza
City, spokesman Juma Saka said that on examination of the wounds, the doctors
had found a powder on the victims' bodies and in their internal organs. The
microscopic particles turned out to be carbon and tungsten. "The powder was like
microscopic shrapnel, and this is likely what caused the injuries," Saka
said. Following the claims of the
Gaza doctors, an investigating team of Italian journalists from the
television channel Rai News 24 took samples of the soil back to Italy. Carmela Vaccaio, a doctor at
the University of Parma, examined the samples and found a high concentration
of carbon, as well as copper, aluminium and tungsten, whose presence she
considered unusual. She said in her report that
"these findings could be in line with the hypothesis that the weapon in
question was a dense inert metal explosive or DIME." According to military
experts, DIME is a carbon-encased missile that shatters on impact into
minuscule splinters. On impact it sets off an explosive that shoots blades of
energy-charged, heavy metal tungsten alloy (HMTA) powder, such as cobalt and
nickel or iron, with a carbon fibre casing. This turns to dust on
impact, as it loses inertia very quickly due to air resistance, burning and
destroying everything within a four-metre range, as opposed to shrapnel which
results from the fragmentation of a metal casing. The metal is designated
"inert" because it is not involved in the blast, and not because it
is chemically or biologically inert. Israel was also accused of
using phosphorous against civilian targets in Lebanon during the 2006
Israel-Lebanon war. It initially denied the charge, but finally confirmed it
following investigation by the same team of Italian journalists, and in the
face of overwhelming evidence. "While the
international community might be horrified by the use of phosphorous, this is
overlooking the issue that hundreds of half-tonne bombs are being dropped on
Gaza on civilian targets on a daily basis," Sourani told IPS. Gaza's death toll has risen
to over 900, while nearly 4,000 Palestinians have been wounded. The UN
reports that half of the deaths are civilian, and half of the civilian
casualties are women and children. One million Gazans are
currently living without electricity, and some 750,000 without water,
according to UN estimates. Gaza has a population of about 1.5 million. Thirteen Israelis have been
killed, three of them civilian. External link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45377 |