The Israeli military, responding to a Human Rights Watch report, stated that it did not employ white phosphorus during its recent military campaign in Gaza.
‘The current accusation made against the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false,’ it said in a statement.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) declared on Thursday evening that it had substantiated Israel’s utilization of white phosphorus munitions. Substantiation was made through interviews and video recordings displaying the deployment of this material at two specific sites along the Israel-Lebanon border and the Gaza City port.
‘White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians,’ Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, said in a statement.
The response from the Israeli military seems to outrightly dispute the claims put forth in the rights group’s report.
Known for its wax-like consistency, white phosphorus is a toxic substance that ignites at temperatures exceeding 800 degrees Celsius (nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit), a temperature capable of melting metal.
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Its rapid ignition and the production of dense smoke over large expanses have established white phosphorus as a preferred substance for military use in producing smokescreens, with the resultant smoke generally lasting for seven minutes.
It is typical for white phosphorus to be colourless, white, or yellow, and it can be distinguished by its garlic-like smell.
The extinguishing of white phosphorus munitions proves to be a difficult task, as they keep flaring until all the phosphorous is burnt out or until there is no further exposure to oxygen.
It is deployable through artillery shells, bombs, rockets, or grenades.
‘Airbursting white phosphorus spreads the substance over a wide area, depending on the altitude of the burst, and it exposes more civilians and infrastructures than a localized ground burst,’ Ahmed Benchemsi, communications director for HRW’s Middle East and North Africa Division, told Al Jazeera.
White phosphorus’ potency can penetrate the skin down to the bone, and the chemicals can be absorbed by the body, causing dysfunction in multiple organs, including the liver, kidneys and heart.
‘The burns have a double effect. They have a local effect because of the burn itself, which is generally quite severe and very deep, and then the second effect is metabolic, which can kill the patients,’ said Roman Hossein Khonsari, professor of maxillofacial surgery and plastic surgery at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital in Paris.
According to him, metabolic disorders can include irregular potassium levels that might deteriorate further to heart failure.