Israel's Widespread Use of White Phosphorus in Lebanon, Gaza Violates Int'l Law: Human Rights Watch

this news is funded by viewers like you please support our work at democracynow.org Israeli forces have illegally dropped white phosphorus Munitions on densely populated residential areas in southern Lebanon forcing many residents to flee that's according to a new report by Human Rights Watch documenting Israel's use of the chemical in at least 17 municipalities across Southern Lebanon since October including including Five Towns where the shells struck several residential buildings white phosphorus poses a high risk of excruciating Burns and lifelong suffering and its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas is a war crime which under us law should have implications for continuous military aid to Israel the intercepts Ryan Grim questioned State Department spokesperson Matt Miller Thursday about the human Rights Watch report we've seen tons of reports now about uh the use of white phosphorus uh by the IDF 17 municipalities across Southern Lebanon since October according to HRW so does does us have any policy that it with regard to the use of white phosphorus so putting setting aside whether or not these individual incidents occurred yeah so white phosphorus is something that's commonly used in military operations uh to produce smoke to obscure Ground Force Mark locations or provide illum illumination and just the usage by itself is not something that's prohibited under International humanitarian law but as with any type of military uh operation civilians can't be targeted uh if white phosphorus is used precautions have to be taken to minimize harm to civilians and it's incumbent on countries to use white phosphorus in uh in ways that are consistent with International humanitarian law are these incidents concerning that Human Rights Watch is saying that they were outside the bounds of so I've seen the report that is the type of thing that we'd have to take a look at and assess before commenting in detail that was State Department spokesperson Matt Miller being questioned by the intercepts Ryan Grim after one Israeli attack on October 15th at least two people from the village of buan had to be rushed to the hospital after inhaling white phosphorus smoke lebanon's Ministry of Public Health says at least 173 people have been injured in the white phosphorus attacks which have also caused hundreds of forest fires in Lebanon for more we go to beut where we're joined by Rik kis a researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch investigating human rights abuses in Lebanon lead author of The group's new report called Lebanon Israel's white phosphorus use risks civilian harm welcome to democracy Now Ramsey just lay out what you understand is happening in southern Lebanon right now when it comes to the use of Israel military Israeli military use of white phosphorus thank you Amy and and thank you for having me um as you noted we released a report today documenting Israel's widespread use of white phosphorus in South Lebanon and what we found is that this widespread use is putting civilians at grave risk and also contributing to displacement as part of our research our uh arms experts and digital digital investigations team reviewed over 100 photos and videos and identified the use of white phospherous Munitions in 47 of them and when possible we we geolocated or precisely identified where those Munitions had fell in total we found that white phospherous was used in at least 17 municipalities stretching from Southwest Lebanon near the Mediterranean all the way to the southeast near the occupied Golan Heights and in five of those municipalities we identified uh the use of white phospherous Munitions over populated residential areas as part of the research we spoke to eight residents from the south including the mayors of three of the towns where white phospherous was unlawfully used and what they told us was you know at the time of the attacks many of these Villages were still populated there people in them in the case of Alan which which you had mentioned uh the mayor said that you know nearly all the The Village was still there when the attacks happened two people were injured in a separate town inila the mayor told us that overall between 20 to 25 uh people had been injured from white phosphorus use and um all the mayors that we spoke to had said that it you know turned the towns into a militarized Zone and pushed people out of their villages um as you noted the Ministry of Health had said that you know at least 173 people as of May 28 have been injured as a result of exposure to white phosphorus um and we heard just about the fears that people have from its use in the South we think that the that the widespread use of white phosphorus in South Lebanon you know that there should be uh action taken on the one hand Israel should immediately prohibit the use of airburst white phosphorus Munitions in populated areas because of the risk of of of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and the harm that we're seeing being caused uh to civilians also um you know the widespread use shows that there's there's a need for stronger international law on the use of white phosphorus and I'm happy to speak more on that and we also made a call to the Lebanese government to file a declaration with the international criminal court giving it the jurisdiction to to prosecute investigate crimes committed within its jurisdiction since October 7 the government made a decision on this about a month ago but then backtracked on it unfortunately so explain exactly um international law when it comes to the use of white phosphorus if you can go into that in more detail and also what about us law sure um let me just start by saying that with with white phosphorus you know it's a chemical substance that's dispersed in artillery fire shells bombs and Rockets and it has incendiary effects as you had mentioned that can cause death or lifelong sufferings it can set homes and agricultural uh areas and other civilian objects on fire and uh you know it continues burning until uh either it's it's cut off from oxygen or the white phosphorus is is depleted so what when it comes to contact with people it can burn down to the bone um and and cause lifelong suffering now it can also be used as a military tool you know to create smoke screens to obscure the movement of troops or to Mark or signal a certain area um but uh and it also inter interferes with infrared systems and weapon track in systems but under International humanitarian law the use of herur white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and also does not meet the legal requirement to take all necessary precautions uh to avoid civilian harms and these concerns are are you know Amplified given the way in which we're seeing white phosphorus used particularly in South Lebanon and in Gazza where it's uh airburst over a certain area when that happens the the 116 felt wedges impregnated with white phosphorus can spread over an area of 125 M to 250 M depending on the height and angle of burst and and and uh you know indiscriminately cause harm to civilians and civilian objects in that area uh and so with regards to international law when it's used as a weapon why Foster is considered an incendiary weapon and now incendiary weapons are not explicitly banned under International humanitarian law but customary International humanitarian law maintains that all parties to a conflict need to take all feasible precautions to caused by these weapons the only legally binding instrument with regards to incendiary weapon is protocol 3 of the convention on Conventional Weapons Lebanon is a state party Israel is not but the protocol 3 has two significant loopholes on the one hand it defines uh incendiary weapons as weapons that are primarily designed to set fires or cause Burns whereas you so therefore it excludes multi-purpose Munitions like white phosphorus and also it has much weaker language on the use of ground launch incendiary weapons so what we're saying in inza and Lebanon words artillery filed projectiles they're ground launch and then they herur of in an area and so this is why we have long called for the closing of these loopholes and for stronger international law on the use of of of international of um incendiary weapons I wanted to go back to um what uh Human Rights Watch uh confirmed in Gaza in October it reports um that it had confirmed Israel using firing white phosphorus Munitions during attacks on Gaza as well as along its border with Lebanon Israel denied using white phosphorus um but previously had used the white phosphorus in attacks on the Gaza Strip including in 2009 Israel's military initially said it was currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus and Gaza later it said quote the current current accusation regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false um meanwhile the new Human Rights Watch report on Lebanon also notes the Israeli military said its main smoke shells do not contain white phosphorus but stated that similar to many Western armies the IDF also has smoke shells that contain white phosphorus and the choice to use them is influenced by operational considerations and availability compared to all Alternatives unquote the military further said that such Munitions are intended for smoke screens and not for an attack or ignition the report said uh can you explain all of this Ramsey K sure sure um I'll just start off by saying that you know Human Rights Watch documented the use of white phosphorus back in 2009 in inza uh and then subsequently since October until today we first documented it in October in South Lebanon and in Gaza um and then subsequently after after that report the Israeli military or the spokesperson denied uh you know uh the military using white phosphorus but after that several other rights groups including Amnesty International for example documented the use of white phosphorus uh unlawfully in the southern Lebanese town of Tyra Washington Post then uh did an investigation and found that the Israeli military used uh um Us weapons in in an attack that amnesty said should be investigated as a war crimes as a war crime in response to this the the statement that you just mentioned uh came from the Israeli military where they said you know that some of the smoke shells have white phosphorus uh and they're used to to create smoke screens and that you know their um their use of white phosphorus complies and goes beyond the requirements of international law what what our report I think shows is in fact that you know we it's being used unlawfully it's being used on unres populated areas it's causing harm to civilians and it's causing displacement in the south well I want to thank you very much for joining us from beut Ramsey kis Human Rights Watch researcher investigating human rights abuses in Lebanon lead author of the new report from HRW Lebanon Israel's white phosphorus use risks civilian harm um this final description of the effects of white phosphorus from the Human Rights Watch report while white phosphorus that contacts people can burn down to the bone fragments of white phosphorus can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failures already dressed wounds can reignite when dressings are removed and the wounds are reexposed to oxygen even relatively minor burns are often fatal for survivors extensive scarring tightens muscle tissue and creates physical disabilities the trauma of the attack the painful treatment that follows and appearance changing scars lead to psychological harm and social exclusion democracy Now is funded by viewers like you please give today at democracynow.org

Channel: Democracy Now!

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Length: 12min 9sec (729 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 07 2024