Gaza's burn victims add to
pressure on Israel over phosphorus
14/01/2009
TimesOnline
From The Times
January 12, 2009
Muhammad Nabih Ahmed, 17, who sustained severe burns
from white phosphorus in Gaza
Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem
and Michael Evans, Defence Editor
Pressure grew on Israel to end the use of controversial
white phosphorus yesterday as The Times saw more
evidence of its deployment around civilian populations
in Gaza. More than 50 people with burns were taken into
Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Yunis, in
what the hospital director, Youssef Abu Al-Reesh, said
was a massive case of exposure to white phosphorus.
“We don’t have the medical experience to judge these
cases, but we searched the internet according to the
cases we have, and it indeed confirmed that it’s white
phosphorus munitions. I have been working in this
hospital for ten years and I have never seen anything
like this.”
The 1980 Geneva treaty says that white phosphorus should
not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but
there is no blanket ban on its use as a smokescreen or
for illumination. It produces a thick white smoke when
exposed to oxygen, but can cause severe burns and melt
flesh to the bone if it comes into contact with skin.
The sudden influx of burns patients at Nasser Hospital
coincided with Israel’s expanded ground offensive, which
included the Al-Qarara and Kuza’a suburbs of Khan Yunis.
Muhammad Tahseen, 20, said that he was sitting outside
his home in Al-Qarara when a shell exploded above. He
described watching his two cousins writhe in pain as he
stood metres away, unable to help. “There was an
explosion and white smoke. I saw my cousins screaming .
. . I saw them burning and their clothes burning. I saw
their skin melting.”
Doctors said that they were unable to provide further
help to Muhammad Nabih Ahmed, 17, listed in critical
condition with burns to the chest and back. The family
hope to get Ahmed treated in an Egyptian hospital. But
travel from Khan Yunis to the southern border with Egypt
is treacherous, and many aid organisations have ceased
travelling along the roads.
When first questioned by The Times last week an Israeli
military spokesman “categorically denied” using white
phosphorus in Gaza. In a statement issued yesterday the
spokesman’s office said: “We don’t specify operational
details, nor the type of ammunition that we use, but any
ammunition that is used by the IDF [Israel Defence
Forces] is within the scope of international law.”
Human Rights Watch said it was sure Israel had used
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,” it said. Further research by The Times into
the type of US-made shells being fired by Israeli
gunners on the border with Gaza uncovered additional
evidence that the light blue munitions, known as
M825A1s, are carriers of white phosphorus, impregnated
in more than 100 felt wedges.
The lot number – PB-91J011-002A – visible in a
photograph published by The Times last week indicates
that the shells being used by the IDF were assembled in
September 1991 at Pine Bluff arsenal in America, where
all US white phosphorus munitions are reportedly made.
The contractors are Chamberlain Manufacturing [metal
parts only], General Dynamics, and Ordnance and Tactical
Systems. White phosphorus can be air-burst or
ground-burst. It emits a distinct garlic smell. When
air-burst, it covers a larger area than ground-burst and
is useful to mask large troop movements. However, this
spreads the incendiary effect over a wider area.
Munir Albarsh, the Head of Emergency Medicine at Gaza’s
Ministry of Health, said that doctors were collecting
tissue samples at hospitals across Gaza to send for
phosphorus testing at international laboratories. He
added that the ministry would demand an independent
international investigation into Israel’s use of white
phosphorus.
Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
