The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times July 2014 | Page 7

phosphorus "can cause serious injury
and death when it comes into contact
with the skin, is inhaled or is
swallowed." Burns on less than 10
percent of the body can be fatal
because of damage to the liver,
kidneys, and heart, the ministry
report says. Infection is common and
the body's absorption of the chemical
can cause serious damage to internal
organs, as well as death. If the IDF
intended to use white phosphorus as
a smokescreen for its forces, it had a
readily available non-lethal
alternative to white phosphorus smoke shells produced by an Israeli
company, Human Rights Watch
concluded. All of the white
phosphorus shells that Human
Rights Watch found were
manufactured in the United States in
1989 by Thiokol Aerospace, which
was running the Louisiana Army
Ammunition Plant at the time. On
January 4, Reuters photographed IDF
artillery units handling projectiles
whose markings indicate that they
were produced in the United States at
the Pine Bluff Arsenal in September
1991. To explain the high number of
civilian casualties in Gaza, Israeli
officials have repeatedly blamed
Hamas for using civilians as "human
shields" and for fighting from
civilian sites. In the cases
documented in the report, Human
Rights Watch found no evidence of
Hamas using human shields in the
vicinity at the time of the attacks. In
some areas Palestinian fighters
appear to have been present, but this
does not justify the indiscriminate

use of white phosphorus in a
populated area. Human Rights Watch
said that for multiple reasons it
concluded that the IDF had
deliberately or recklessly used white
phosphorus munitions in violation of
the laws of war. First, the repeated
use of air-burst white phosphorus in
populated areas until the last days of
the operation reveals a pattern or
policy of conduct rather than
incidental or accidental usage.
Second, the IDF was well aware of
the effects of white phosphorus and
the dangers it poses to civilians.
Third, the IDF failed to use safer
available alternatives for
smokescreens.
Israel should be held accountable for
its illegal assault, as well as USA for
supplying Israel with illegal
weapons.