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white phosphorus
Israel Illegally Using White Phosphorus Against Civilians in Lebanon: Human Rights Watch
"The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”
Mar 09, 2026
Israel is illegally using white phosphorous in civilian areas amid its new onslaught in Lebanon, putting residents at risk of death or life-altering injury, according to a report released Monday by Human Rights Watch.
The human rights group said it has verified and geolocated seven photos showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed on March 3 over homes in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor.
Images also showed civil defense workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area.
White phosphorus, a chemical substance that ignites when exposed to oxygen, is considered unlawfully indiscriminate under international law when deployed in civilian areas, as it can result in homes, agricultural areas, and other civilian infrastructure catching on fire.
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” said Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The incendiary effects of white phosphorous can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering.”
Human Rights Watch said it has not verified whether anyone was in the area at the time the white phosphorus was deployed or whether it resulted in any injuries.
It is not the first time Israel has been documented deploying white phosphorus in Lebanon. In June 2024, Human Rights Watch verified at least 17 instances of the chemical substance being deployed across south Lebanon since October 2023.
As of May 28, 2024, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that at least 173 people had suffered injuries from white phosphorus since October 2023—including respiratory issues like asphyxiation.
“Israel should immediately halt this practice and states providing Israel with weapons, including white phosphorus munitions, should immediately suspend military assistance and arms sales and push Israel to stop firing such munitions in residential areas,” Kaiss said.
Yohmor was one of more than 100 villages where Israel ordered civilians to "immediately" evacuate last week—orders that have resulted in the mass displacement of more than 300,000 people from their homes, according to a Friday report from the Norwegian Refugee Council.
On March 3, residents of Yohmor and other villages given evacuation orders were told by Avichay Adraee, Israel’s Arabic military spokesperson, that they “should immediately evacuate [their homes] and move away from the villages to a distance of at least 1,000 meters outside the village to open land.”
Due to the "sweeping nature" of its orders, Human Rights Watch has warned that "their purpose is not to protect civilians, especially in the context of recent large-scale displacement of civilians in Lebanon."
The report notes that between September and November 2024, more than 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon as a result of attacks across the country. Many, who were able to return home following a ceasefire in November 2024, have been displaced once more.
Since Israel and the United States launched a war against Iran last week, resulting in retaliation from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Israel has pushed further into Lebanon, carrying out attacks on several villages across southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and Beirut.
"Contrary to [Israel's] claims, the strikes are not aimed at military personnel or installations, but rather at residential homes, medical responders, healthcare infrastructure, as well as women and children," said Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine on Sunday.
Since March 2, he said that Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed 394 people, including 83 children and 42 women, while wounding 1,130 people, including 254 children and 274 women.
"The number is still increasing," he added.
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Missouri Puts Profits Over People's Lives With New Israeli Chemical Limited Facility
A new ICL facility would further establish St. Louis as a hub of militarization and an exporter of global death and destruction while threatening the health and well-being of residents.
May 08, 2025
Early this year, as snow froze into sheets of solid ice, covering the ground for weeks, almost 20% of St. Louis Public School students were unhoused. Meanwhile, in warm town halls, former city Mayor Tishaura Jones praised a proposed new hazardous chemical facility, displaying the city's economic priorities.
St. Louis's northside has long been subjected to the environmental effects of militarization, from the radiation secretly sprayed on residents of Pruitt Igoe and Northside communities in the 1950s, to the dumped cancer-causing Manhattan Project radioactive waste that poisoned Coldwater Creek. A proposed new Israeli Chemical Limited (ICL) facility in north St. Louis would not only be another colonial imposition, but it also poses disastrous environmental risks for the entire state.
A new ICL facility would further establish St. Louis as a hub of militarization and an exporter of global death and destruction. In St. Charles, Boeing has built more than 500,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kits, known as JDAMS. An Amnesty International report tied these to attacks on Palestinian civilian homes, families, and children, making our region complicit in war crimes. In addition to hosting the explosives weapons manufacturer Boeing, Missouri is home to Monsanto (now Bayer), which produced Agent Orange.
Why does a foreign chemical company with almost $7 billion in earnings need so much funding from our local and federal government at the expense of our residents?
What's lesser known is that Monsanto is responsible for white phosphorus production in a supply chain trifecta with ICL and Pine Bluffs Arsenal. White phosphorus is a horrific incendiary weapon that heats up to 1,400°F, and international law bans its use against civilians. From 2020 to 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense ordered and paid ICL for over 180,000 lbs of white phosphorus, shipped from their South City Carondelet location to Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. White phosphorus artillery shells with Pine Bluff Arsenal codes were identified in Lebanon and Gaza after the Israel Defense Forces unlawfully used them over residential homes and refugee camps, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Another ICL facility, combined with the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency that analyzes drone footage to direct U.S.military attacks, would put North St. Louis squarely on the map for military retaliation from any country seeking to strike back against U.S. global interventionism.
Within a mile of the Carondelet ICL site, the Environmental Protection Agency has identified unsafe levels of cancer-risking air toxins, hazardous waste, and wastewater discharge. The new facility would be built within five miles of intake towers and open-air sedimentation ponds that provide drinking water to St. Louis. An explosion or leak could destroy the city's water supply and harm eastern Missouri towns along the Mississippi. ICL has committed multiple Environmental and Workplace Safety violations, including violating the Clean Air Act at its South City facility. In 2023, it was declared the worst environmental offender by Israel's own Environmental Protection Ministry after the 2017 Ashalim Creek disaster, and were fined $33 million.
ICL claims the new North City site is a safe and green facility for manufacturing lithium iron phosphate for electric vehicles; however, lithium manufacturing is hardly a green or safe process. Lithium and phosphorus mining require enormous amounts of freshwater—a protected resource—resulting in poisoned ecosystems and a limited water supply for residents and wildlife in the local communities where they are sourced.
In October 2024, a lithium battery plant in Fredericktown, Missouri, burst into flames, forcing residents to evacuate and killing thousands of fish in nearby rivers. The company had claimed to have one of the most sophisticated automated fire suppression systems in the world, yet it still caused a fire whose aftermath continues to affect residents today, with comparisons being drawn to East Palestine, Ohio. Meanwhile, in January, over 1,000 people in California had to evacuate due to a massive fire at a lithium facility, the fourth fire there since 2019. Despite ICL claiming that the new site will use a "safer" form of lithium processing, it's clear that lithium facilities are not as safe as profit-driven corporations claim them to be.
Missouri leaders repeatedly prioritize corporate profits over people via tax abatements. ICL is receiving $197 million from the federal government. The city is forgiving a $500,000 loan to troubled investors Green Street to sell the land to ICL and is proposing a 90% tax abatement in personal property taxes for ICL, plus 15 years of real estate tax abatements. This is a troubling regional trend, considering that in 2023, St. Louis County approved $155 million in tax breaks to expand Boeing, also giving them a 50% cut in real estate and personal property taxes over 10 years.
Corporate tax breaks in the city have cost minority students in St. Louis Public Schools $260 million in a region where 30% of children are food insecure. Over 2,000 people in St. Louis city are homeless. Enough babies die each year in St Louis to fill 15 kindergarten classrooms. Black babies are three times more likely to die than white babies before their first birthday, and Black women are 2.4 times more likely to die during pregnancy. Spending public funds on corporate tax breaks instead of directing them toward food, housing, and life-saving medical care for Black women and babies is inexcusable. Why does a foreign chemical company with almost $7 billion in earnings need so much funding from our local and federal government at the expense of our residents?
Officials cite "job creation" as a major reason to expand ICL. Still, the new facility is only expected to create 150 jobs, and there is no evidence that these jobs will be given to people in the community where it is being built. Investing in Black and minority businesses would lead to actual self-sustaining economic development.
Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government, local tax breaks, the backing of former Gov. Mike Parson, and approval from city committees, the facility's opening is not a done deal. The St. Louis City Board of Alders could still intervene. Stopping a facility with this much federal and international backing would require massive pushback from Missourians. Residents deserve more information and input in this process, especially considering the city's resistance to hearing public comments. Notably, when locals submitted a Sunshine request for the ICL permit in March, it was so heavily redacted that it was unreadable.
This facility would turn local Black neighborhoods into environmental and military sacrifice zones, and our response to city, state, and federal leaders should be a definitive and resounding No!
CODEPINK Missouri has a petition to stop the building of the ICL facility in St. Louis.
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Israeli Use of White Phosphorus in Lebanon Injured UN Peacekeepers: Report
One observer said the illegal use of the devastating chemical agent is "yet another reason" why the Biden administration "must halt offensive weapons shipments to Israel."
Oct 22, 2024
Israel Defense Forces troops recently forced their way into a United Nations peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon and fired white phosphorus munitions in close enough proximity to injure 15 U.N. personnel, according to a report published Tuesday.
The Financial Times reviewed "a confidential report outlining a dozen recent incidents in which the IDF attacked international troops in Lebanon." The newspaper said the report was prepared by a country contributing troops to the 10,000-strong U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
UNIFIL forces and facilities have been repeatedly attacked by Israeli troops since the IDF launched a ground invasion of Lebanon earlier this month amid heavy aerial bombardment that has killed or wounded thousands of Lebanese. UNIFIL has condemned attacks on its positions and personnel as a "flagrant violation of international law."
According to the confidential report, Israeli forces began directly firing on UNIFIL bases on October 8. Two days later, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when an IDF tank fired on an observation tower.
In a separate incident that same day, IDF troops opened fire on a UNIFIL bunker where Italian peacekeepers sought refuge.
"This was not a mistake and not an accident," Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said following the incident. "It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international humanitarian law."
On October 13, UNIFIL said two IDF tanks crashed through the main gate of one of its bases and fired on a watchtower, destroying cameras and damaging the structure. The tanks left the base after about 45 minutes, following complaints by UNIFIL officials.
However, the report states that within an hour, IDF troops fired what UNIFIL believes were white phosphorus rounds approximately 100 meters, or 328 feet, north of the base, injuring 15 people.
Israel denies deliberately targeting UNIFIL troops and claims without evidence that U.N. peacekeepers are being used as human shields by Hezbollah, which has launched nearly relentless volleys of rockets and other projectiles at Israel in solidarity with Gaza. Israel has demanded the U.N. evacuate its peacekeepers from southern Lebanon. UNIFIL and countries contributing troops to the mission have steadfastly refused.
"Despite the pressure being exerted on the mission and our troop-contributing countries, peacekeepers remain in all positions," UNIFIL said on Sunday. "We will continue to undertake our mandated tasks to monitor and report."
White phosphorus is banned for use in civilian areas but is commonly deployed on battlegrounds as a smokescreen or to smoke out enemy forces. It burns as hot as 1,500°F. Water does not extinguish it. Upon contact, white phosphorus burns thermally and chemically straight through to the bone.
It can also enter the bloodstream and cause organ failure. Dressed injuries can reignite when bandages are removed and the wounds are reexposed to oxygen. Relatively mild white phosphorus burns are often fatal. Survivors often suffer various physical disabilities.
Israeli forces have used white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon since last October, when Israel retaliated for the deadliest-ever attack on its soil by obliterating the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave in a war for which it is now on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Israel has also used white phosphorus in past wars, including during the 2006 invasion of Lebanon and at a United Nations school during the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. Responding to a 2013 petition to Israel's High Court of Justice filed by human rights groups including Human Rights Watch, the IDF said it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas, with "very narrow exceptions" that it would not disclose.
Other nations also use white phosphorus, including the United States, whose forces fired munitions containing the chemical agent during the invasion of Iraq and elsewhere across the region during the post-9/11 so-called "War on Terrorism."
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Israel Again Accused of Illegally Using White Phosphorus in Lebanon
"If Hezbollah rained white phosphorus over Tel Aviv there would be wall-to-wall coverage and every major leader would be saying it's the worst war crime," said one critic.
Oct 01, 2024
Israeli forces were accused Tuesday of the war crime of firing white phosphorus artillery munitions over populated areas of southern Lebanon as Israel escalates an assault on its northern neighbor that has killed or wounded thousands of people.
Video footage published on social media and reported by Middle East Eye shows distinctive explosions that appear consistent with the use of white phosphorus rounds over civilian areas of southern Lebanon, including the village of Kfar Kila.
While white phosphorus munitions are not completely prohibited under international law, their use in populated areas is forbidden. White phosphorus rounds are primarily used to create smokescreens. However, when used as an incendiary weapon, white phosphorus—which ignites on contact with air and burns at nearly 1,500°F (815°C)—can maim and kill by burning flesh straight through to the bone, often causing a slow, agonizing death. Water does not extinguish it.
There have been multiple confirmed reports of Israeli forces firing white phosphorus munitions in Lebanon since the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah began attacking Israel with rockets, drones, and other weapons in solidarity with Gaza after Israel's assault on the Palestinian coastal enclave in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice over its military assault of Gaza, which has left more than 147,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing.
Israeli forces have also used white phosphorus in previous wars, including during the 2006 invasion of Lebanon and over a United Nations school during the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. Responding to a 2013 petition to Israel's High Court of Justice filed by human rights groups including Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Israel Defense Forces said it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas, with "very narrow exceptions" that it would not disclose.
U.S. forces used white phosphorus following the invasion of Iraq and elsewhere across the region during the post-9/11 so-called "War on Terrorism."
Responding to Israel's earlier use of white phosphorus in Gaza, HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said: "Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering. White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians."
"To avoid civilian harm, Israel should stop using white phosphorus in populated areas," Fakih added. "Parties to the conflict should be doing everything they can to spare civilians from further suffering."
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UN Human Rights Chief Demands Investigation Into Israel's Use of 'High-Impact' Explosives in Gaza
"We have very serious concerns that these amount to disproportionate attacks in breach of international humanitarian law."
Nov 10, 2023
The United Nations' top human rights official on Friday demanded an investigation into the Israeli military's bombardment of densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip with "high-impact explosive weapons," a call that came as Israel's forces surrounded Gaza's largest city and reportedly attacked several hospitals packed with wounded and displaced civilians.
"After four weeks of bombardment and shelling by Israeli Forces in Gaza, the indiscriminate effects of such weapons in a densely populated area is clear," Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement. "Israel must immediately end the use of such methods and means of warfare, and the attacks must be investigated."
"Considering the predictable high level of civilian casualty and the wide scale of destruction of civilian objects," Türk added, "we have very serious concerns that these amount to disproportionate attacks in breach of international humanitarian law."
Israeli forces have dropped a staggering number of bombs on Gaza—a territory that's just 140.9 square miles in size—in just over a month. In the first week of bombing following Hamas' deadly October 7 attack, Israel's military hammered the strip with at least 6,000 bombs, decimating civilian infrastructure as it claimed to be targeting militants.
Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, damaged or destroyed
over half of the territory's housing units, and displaced 70% of the enclave's population. Israel's bombing and siege have also forced many of Gaza's hospitals to shut down.
The New York Times reported last week that Israel "used at least two 2,000-pound bombs" in its recent attacks on Jabalia, a Gaza city that's home to the territory's largest refugee camp.
"Israel's use of such bombs, the second largest type in its arsenal, is not uncommon, and the size is generally the largest that most militaries use on a regular basis," the Times noted. "Eighty-three countries, including the United States but not Israel, have signed a commitment to refrain 'as appropriate, from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas' because of their likelihood of harming civilians."
Human rights groups have also accused Israel of using incendiary white phosphorus in Gaza and Lebanon.
The International Criminal Court is
currently investigating war crimes committed in Palestine "by any party."
Türk said Friday that an immediate cease-fire is needed to "deliver food, water, and other essential goods to people who desperately need them and where they need them, throughout Gaza; for all hostages to be released; and to open a path to a sustainable way out of this nightmarish situation in Gaza."
"Stop the violence," said Türk. "Guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers. Provide safe access to ensure humanitarian assistance to all those in need. Make sure people have enough to eat, clean water to drink, medical care, and shelter. Free the hostages. Bring to justice—in line with human rights law—the perpetrators of serious violations."
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Amnesty: Israel's Illegal Use of White Phosphorus in Lebanon a Possible 'War Crime'
"This should be front-page news in mainstream media," said one observer. "But it probably won't even warrant mention in this climate. Crazy."
Oct 31, 2023
Amnesty International on Tuesday shared evidence that Israel has unlawfully used artillery shells containing white phosphorus in southern Lebanon amid intensified fighting with the militant group Hezbollah as Israeli forces wage war on the Gaza Strip.
"White phosphorus is an incendiary substance mostly used to create a dense smoke screen or mark targets," the human rights group explained earlier this month. "It burns at extremely high temperatures when exposed to air, and can continue to burn inside flesh. It causes horrific pain and life-changing injuries, and cannot be put out with water."
Amnesty revealed that its researchers "gathered compelling evidence," including photographs and videos, indicating four recent uses of the substance in Lebanon. For one case, the group's Crisis Evidence Lab "verified a video showing artillery-dispersed smoke plumes, consistent with white phosphorus munitions," on the town of Dhayra.
"Launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injuries to civilians or damage to civilian objects is a war crime."
Dhayra Mayor Abdullah al-Ghrayyeb told Amnesty that shelling of the populated civilian area started in the afternoon on October 16 and continued into the night.
"A very bad odor and massive cloud covered the town so that we were not able to see beyond five or six meters in front of us," he said. "This caused people to frantically flee their homes. And when some returned two days later, their houses were still burning. Cars caught fire. Land areas were also burnt down. Until today, you find remnants—the size of a fist—that reignite when exposed to air."
Ali Safieddine, regional director of the Lebanese Civil Defense, facilitated the transfer of civilians to the hospital and the evacuation of Dhayra. He said residents called reporting "bombs that are producing extremely bad odor and causing suffocation once inhaled."
"Four members of our staff as well as a number of people living in Dhayra were admitted to a hospital for suffocation in the past few days," Safieddine told Amnesty on October 17. "We were not able to see even our own hands due to the heavy white smoke that covered the town all night long and lasted till this morning."
Dr. Haitham Nisr confirmed that medical teams treated at least nine patients from the Dhayra, Yarine, and Marwahin who were suffering from shortness of breath and coughing on October 16-17.
"Launching an indiscriminate attack resulting in loss of life or injuries to civilians or damage to civilian objects is a war crime," Amnesty stressed. "This attack on Dhayra, which injured civilians and damaged civilian objects, was indiscriminate and therefore unlawful. It must be investigated as a war crime."
Aya Majzoub, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, declared Tuesday that "it is beyond horrific that the Israeli army has indiscriminately used white phosphorous in violation of international humanitarian law."
"With concern growing about an intensification of the hostilities in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army must immediately halt the use of white phosphorus, especially in populated areas, in line with its forgotten 2013 pledge to stop using these weapons," she argued. "It must abide by its commitment and stop further endangering the lives of civilians in Lebanon."
Al Jazeera reported Monday that "there is growing fear in Lebanon that fighting between the armed group Hezbollah and Israel could spiral out of control, even as many residents sympathize with the Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza."
After a Hamas-led surprise attack that killed as many as 1,400 Israelis, Israel responded with what's being called a "genocidal" assault of Gaza, killing more than 8,500 Palestinians—including over 3,500 children—and devastating civilian infrastructure. Israeli forces have also been accused of illegally using white phosphorus in the besieged strip.
Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that it "verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border, and interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza."
While Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner denied Israeli use of white phosphorus in Gaza or Lebanon, Amnesty also said in mid-October that it had "gathered compelling evidence documenting the use of white phosphorus artillery shells by the Israeli army in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza, many of which may be considered unlawful indiscriminate attacks."
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US Weapons Must Not Be Used to Kill Civilians in Gaza
While backing Israeli's assault on Gaza, the Biden administration does not appear to be conducting due diligence to ensure that U.S. military assistance and weapons do not contribute to international humanitarian law violations.
Oct 25, 2023
Following Hamas atrocities in Israel earlier this month, the Israeli government mounted a counteroffensive in which it reportedly dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza — an area about double the size of Washington, D.C., with triple the population — in the first several days. Many aspects of the Israeli campaign raise serious international law concerns. Regardless of Hamas’ war crimes, the Israeli government is bound to comply with the law of armed conflict. As the leading provider of weapons and military aid to Israel, the United States bears special responsibility for international law violations and harm to civilians.
Investigators and legal experts at leading human rights organizations claim that the Israeli government has used white phosphorus in Gaza, and one organization found that it did so in ways that violate international law. White phosphorus munitions are used as smokescreens, target markers, and incendiary weapons that burn at nearly 1500 degrees Fahrenheit when exposed to the air. Water does not extinguish white phosphorus, and severe burns on just a tenth of a person’s body are often fatal. Survivors of severe burns, respiratory damage, and organ failure are often left with injuries and chronic conditions that can last a lifetime.
Human Rights Watch concludes that using white phosphorus “in densely populated areas of Gaza” violates international humanitarian law, also known as the law of armed conflict. Similarly, Amnesty International researchers found “compelling evidence” of the Israeli military using white phosphorus “in densely populated civilian areas in Gaza, many of which may be considered unlawful indiscriminate attacks.” The Israeli government has denied that it used white phosphorus. Both human rights groups provide extensive information about their research standards and investigation processes.
In its investigation, Amnesty International said it identified U.S. Department of Defense codes on Israel’s phosphorus-based munitions. The munitions may have been exported from the United States. Israel’s military has faced claims it used American white phosphorus before. In 2009, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International claims to have identified that Israel used white phosphorus munitions made in Louisiana and Arkansas during the 2008–2009 Gaza war. After Israeli rights groups sued, the Israeli military announced plans to “significantly reduce” its usage of white phosphorus munitions in urban areas.
Although white phosphorus provides a specific example of possible U.S. complicity in violations, it is far from the only measure in the war that international law experts have identified as violations or possible atrocity crimes. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant ordered a siege on Gaza with “no electricity, no food, no fuel,” an order that experts have identified as a war crime and potential crime against humanity. According to a UN special rapporteur and leading human rights and humanitarian organizations, Israel’s order for 1.1 million people in Gaza to evacuate the northern half of the territory within 24 hours also violated international humanitarian law. In a rare public determination, the International Committee of the Red Cross called the order “not compatible with international humanitarian law.” A group of over 45 UN special rapporteurs condemned “Israel’s indiscriminate military attacks” in Gaza, noting that indiscriminately targeting civilians is a war crime.
While debates among lawyers will doubtlessly continue, the human cost of the Israeli offensive is irrefutable: Gaza’s health ministry reports that Israeli strikes have killed at least 4,300 people, including 1,750 children. Families on both sides of the border mourn loved ones and fear for their safety as Hamas attacks killed over 1,400 people.
Each year, the United States provides $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel annually, making it the top recipient of U.S. foreign military financing. The United States has already begun sending weapons to Israel for use in its offensive, with small-diameter bombs, artillery shells, ammunition, and other weapons already delivered or on the way. Explosive weapons pose an especially high risk to civilians in urban areas.
The State Department recently developed guidance to respond to reports of harm to civilians involving U.S. weapons. Many civilian deaths and damage to civilian infrastructure likely involve weapons from the United States, meaning that the war in Gaza may present the first major test of the guidance reported in September.
But despite the guidance and reports of international law violations, the United States has not placed any conditions on arms transfers to Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we would hope and expect that they would do the right things in the prosecution of their campaign.”
Unconditional support could expose U.S. officials to international legal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, a State Department concern during U.S. support for Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen. The International Criminal Court already has an open investigation that covers violations in Gaza.
The cornerstone U.S. law on security assistance and human rights — as currently implemented — is probably not being applied to Israeli violations in Gaza. The Leahy Law, which prohibits security assistance to units of foreign security forces credibly accused of gross violations of human rights, has historically not been implemented for the vast majority of US military assistance to Israel. And the U.S. government generally interprets the Leahy Law as inapplicable to wartime violations of the law of armed conflict.
Based on public statements and policy implementation, the Biden administration does not appear to be conducting due diligence to ensure that U.S. military assistance and weapons do not contribute to international humanitarian law violations and atrocities.
The Biden administration should do all it can to protect civilians in Gaza and Israel. But in light of the Biden administration’s reluctance to push the Israeli military to protect civilian lives, Congress must step in.
First and foremost, members of Congress should call for a ceasefire to save civilian lives and pressure the administration to prioritize humanitarian access. A new resolution led by Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) does just that.
Regarding U.S. weapons and other security assistance, legislators must push for President Biden to use U.S. leverage to advocate for a ceasefire and insist that the Israeli military take all feasible precautions to prevent harm to civilians. In line with the Biden administration’s arms transfer policy — which a recently resigned State Department official accused the administration of violating — the United States must not provide the Israeli government with weapons likely to be used in atrocities, based on both current practices and past violations.
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Israeli Airstrike on Gaza Civilian Convoy Kills 70—Mostly Women and Children: Report
The alleged massacre followed an Israeli order for people in northern Gaza to evacuate to "save their lives" ahead of an expected massive ground invasion.
Oct 13, 2023
After warning 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion of the besieged enclave, Israeli forces reportedly bombed a civilian convoy on Friday, killing 70 people—mostly women and children—according to the territory's Interior Ministry.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Iyad Al-Buzm said the convoy was struck as around 150 civilians were making their way through the Al-Zeytoun neighborhood in Gaza City. Hamas—which governs Gaza—said the convoy was hit in three places.
Videos posted on social media showed the convoy, including a towed trailer packed with people, before and after it was hit by the Israeli airstrike. Graphic footage of the attack's aftermath showed dead bodies strewn about the street, as well as wounded victims in a local hospital.
The alleged attack came after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallantwarned that Palestinians wishing to "save their lives" must evacuate to the south within 24 hours before an expected invasion.
Israel's air, land, and sea bombardment of Gaza—home to 2.3 million people and one of the world's most densely populated areas—has already killed nearly 2,000 people, including more than 600 children, and wounded nearly 8,000 others since Saturday, when Gaza-based Hamas and other militants launched a surprise cross-border attack that left over 1,300 Israelis dead.
In addition to the bombing, Israel has imposed a full blockade on the already besieged strip, cutting off food, water, fuel, and medicines.
Israeli forces have been accused of war crimes for leveling entire Gaza neighborhoods and indiscriminately attacking civilians with weaponry including
white phosphorus—which is banned in populated areas under international law. As was the case in previous Israeli attacks on Gaza, entire families have been killed. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari declared Tuesday that "the emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy."
Many Palestinians said they did not know where they could safely flee, as Israel controls most points of ingress and egress to Gaza. After encouraging Gazans to leave through the Rafah Border Crossing—the sole point of entry and exit along the Egyptian border—Israeli forces bombed it on Tuesday.
United Nations humanitarian official Martin Griffiths wrote on social media Friday that "the order to evacuate 1.1 million people from northern Gaza defies the rules of war and basic humanity."
"The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening," he added. "How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours? I shudder to think what the humanitarian consequences of the evacuation order would be."
The U.S. peace group Win Without War said Friday that "we forcefully condemn the Israeli government's call for over a million residents of Gaza—almost half of whom are estimated to be children—to evacuate to the south within 24 hours."
"We echo the warnings from the U.N. and various other organizations that this order is impossible to execute and will put the lives of hundreds of thousands at risk," the group added. "The elderly, the disabled, and children will be placed in particular and unconscionable danger."
Numerous Palestinians said they would not heed the Israeli evacuation order, with some saying they feared a new Nakba, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the foundation of the modern state of Israel in 1947-48.
"If we're going to die here, we're going to die in our homes," Gaza resident Mansour Shouman told Al Jazeera on Friday. "We're going to die in the north or the south. We're going to die with our heads up high, standing on our lands, standing with our rights, and holding strong to our faith."
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Israel Accused of 'Blatant War Crime' as HRW Confirms White Phosphorus Used in Gaza
"Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering," said one Human Rights Watch official.
Oct 12, 2023
Human Rights Watch on Thursday said it has confirmed reports that Israeli military forces unleashed white phosphorus munitions during artillery attacks on targets in Lebanon and Gaza this week, including over a heavily populated civilian area of the besieged Palestinian strip—an apparent war crime.
HRW said it has interviewed witnesses and verified video footage shot in Lebanon and Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday "showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border."
The HRW announcement came as Israeli forces continue to bombard Gaza from air, land, and sea in an assault that has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians, including at least 500 children, in retaliation for Hamas' surprise infiltration of Israel and killing of over 1,300 Israeli soldiers and civilians.
As HRW explained Thursday:
Upon contact, white phosphorus can burn people, thermally and chemically, down to the bone as it is highly soluble in fat and therefore in human flesh. White phosphorus fragments can exacerbate wounds even after treatment and can enter the bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure. 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.
WP burns as hot as 1,500°F. Water does not extinguish it.
"Any time that white phosphorus is used in crowded civilian areas, it poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering," HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said in a statement. "White phosphorous is unlawfully indiscriminate when airburst in populated urban areas, where it can burn down houses and cause egregious harm to civilians."
"To avoid civilian harm, Israel should stop using white phosphorus in populated areas," Fakih added. "Parties to the conflict should be doing everything they can to spare civilians from further suffering."
HRW previously accused Israel of war crimes for using WP munitions in densely populated areas—including over a United Nations school—during the 2008-09 Operation Cast Lead invasion of Gaza. In response to a 2013 petition to Israel's High Court of Justice filed by human rights groups including HRW, the Israel Defense Forces said it would no longer use WP in populated areas, with "very narrow exceptions" that it would not disclose.
Other countries' militaries also use WP, most notably the United States, which fired the incendiary rounds during the 2004 battle for Fallujah and elsewhere in the so-called War on Terror.
In 2016, Saudi Arabia was condemned for allegedly firing U.S.-supplied WP munitions against Houthi rebels in Yemen. WP and other incendiary weapons have also been used by Syrian government and Russian forces fighting Islamic State and other militants during the Syrian civil war. Turkey has also been accused of firing WP rounds at Kurdish civilians in Syria.
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