Understanding White Phosphorus: Allegations of its use in Gaza by Israel

In response to land-sea-air assaults launched by the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas on October 7, Israel has been conducting airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. Allegations have surfaced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used white phosphorus to target adversaries, even deploying it in densely populated civilian areas.

On October 12, Human Rights Watch, a United States-based non-governmental organization, confirmed the use of white phosphorus by Israeli forces, but the IDF has dismissed all these claims.

Human Rights Watch stated, 'We have determined, based on verified videos and witness accounts, that Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively. The videos depict multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.'

The Israeli military, in an apparent rebuttal, declared, 'The current accusation against the IDF (Israel Defense Force) regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false. The IDF has not employed such ammunitions," it added.

What is white phosphorus?

White phosphorus is a highly combustible chemical substance, which is waxy in texture and emits a distinct pungent garlicky smell. The chemical can be used as a smokescreen but doubles up as an incendiary weapon as it produces intense heat at about 815 degrees Celsius when exposed to oxygen, causing severe burns.

While white phosphorous is not technically a chemical weapon because it is not toxic, it causes enduring damage to human life and property. Not just surface burns on the skin, white phosphorus can have lingering long-term effects, inflicting tissue and bone damage. Even a 10 percent white phosphorus burn can prove fatal to humans as it has the potential to reignite even after being treated.

According to Human Rights Watch, “White phosphorus causes severe burns, often down to the bone, that are slow to heal and likely to develop infections. If not all fragments of white phosphorus are removed, they can exacerbate wounds after treatment and reignite when exposed to oxygen. White phosphorus burns on only 10 percent of a human body are often fatal. It can also cause respiratory damage and organ failure.”

“Those who survive their initial injuries often experience a lifetime of suffering. Contractures—the permanent tightening of muscles and other tissue—impede mobility, while the trauma of the initial attack, painful treatments, and appearance-changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion.”

“Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa Director, Human Rights Watch. “White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians.”

Is white phosphorous banned?

Though not toxic, when used as a weapon, ammunition containing white phosphorus is considered an incendiary weapon, which is not exactly banned by international humanitarian law, but requires states to take all measures possible to ensure there’s no civilian damage.

So, technically, its use in Gaza violates the prerequisite to take every possible precaution to avoid hurting civilians and causing loss of life and property.

The United Nations defines incendiary weapons as “weapons or munitions designed to set fire to objects or cause burn or respiratory injury to people through the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof, resulting from a chemical reaction of a flammable substance such as napalm or white phosphorus”. In 1972, the UNGA declared incendiary weapons a “category of arms viewed with horror”.

This brings to focus the need to reexamine the potency of Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), which governs the use of incendiary weapons.

Israel's military had announced a decade ago that it is phasing out the use of white phosphorus to create smokescreens but never clarified its stance on the weaponized use of the chemical to flush out enemies from possible hideouts.

(With inputs from Reuters)