The White Phosphorus Files - Week 1 Part 1
White Phosphorus · Part 1 of 4 · 1 of 2
A weapon that burns at 815 degrees Celsius. That burns through bone. That cannot be put out with water.
The science. The law. The protocol Israel signed. The protocol it did not sign. The loophole. The customary law that still applies.
CDC. WHO. PMC. Primary sources.
02 / 08
815 degrees Celsius on contact with oxygen.
White phosphorus ignites spontaneously when exposed to oxygen above 30 degrees Celsius.
It burns at 815 degrees Celsius.
It is highly soluble in fat, meaning it penetrates deep into tissue and continues burning after flames appear extinguished.
Water reactivates it.
It causes second and third degree burns down to the bone.
It can also cause systemic organ damage through the skin.
Source: CDC NIOSH Emergency Response Card, white phosphorus · WHO Fact Sheet January 15 2024 · PMC Frontiers in Medicine, white phosphorus munitions pathophysiology 2025 · ATSDR Toxicological Profile Chapter 2
Protocol III. Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. 1980.
03 / 08
International law prohibits using incendiary weapons against civilians or in areas with concentrations of civilians.
Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons was adopted in 1980.
It entered into force in December 1983.
It prohibits making civilian populations the object of attack by any weapon primarily designed to set fire or cause burn injuries.
It also restricts ground-launched incendiary weapons where there are concentrations of civilians.
Source: Protocol III, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, adopted October 10 1980 · Arms Control Association, CCW factsheet · ICRC IHL Treaties Database, Protocol III
UN Office for Disarmament Affairs. Israel country page.
04 / 08
Israel is a party to the CCW. Israel is not a party to Protocol III, the specific protocol on incendiary weapons.
Israel signed the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 1981.
That is the parent framework.
Israel is not a state party to Protocol III.
Protocol III is the specific protocol prohibiting incendiary weapons against civilians.
JURIST, Human Rights Watch and the Arms Control Association all confirmed this on record in 2023 and 2024.
Source: UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, Israel CCW country page · JURIST March 14 2026, "rights group demands Israel halt incendiary weapon use" · Human Rights Watch October 12 2023 Q&A
Human Rights Watch. Harvard IHL Clinic. Named and documented.
05 / 08
Protocol III has a documented gap. Ground-launched incendiary weapons have weaker rules than air-delivered ones.
The Harvard University International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch have both documented this gap publicly.
Protocol III was designed with the firebombing campaigns of World War II and Vietnam in mind.
It did not anticipate modern urban counterinsurgency.
Ground-launched incendiary weapons such as artillery have weaker civilian protections than air-delivered munitions.
White phosphorus artillery falls into that gap.
Human Rights Watch has called on CCW states parties to close the loophole since 2023.
As of 2026 it remains open.
Source: Human Rights Watch October 12 2023, Protocol III Q&A · Harvard University International Human Rights Clinic, Protocol III analysis · HRW November 2024, "Beyond Burning" report
ICRC. International Committee of the Red Cross. Named primary source.
06 / 08
The ICRC states white phosphorus use in civilian areas violates customary international law regardless of Protocol III.
The International Committee of the Red Cross states that even outside Protocol III, customary international humanitarian law requires parties to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.
Using airburst white phosphorus over densely populated areas fails that standard regardless of whether a state has ratified Protocol III.
Human Rights Watch confirmed the ICRC position on record in its October 2023 Q&A documentation.
The ICRC position is binding on all parties to the Geneva Conventions.
Israel is a party to the Geneva Conventions.
Source: ICRC, Customary IHL Rule 70, Superfluous Injury or Unnecessary Suffering · Human Rights Watch October 12 2023, ICRC position confirmed · Geneva Convention IV, parties list
We are not making a claim. We are asking a question.
07 / 08
Burns at 815 degrees. Burns through bone. Cannot be put out with water. Israel signed the parent convention but not the specific protocol on incendiary weapons. What does that gap look like in practice?
Tomorrow: Gaza.
October 11 2023.
The port.
The airburst.
The named locations.
What Human Rights Watch documented.
What the IDF said.
The gap between the two.
The science says 815 degrees. The law has a gap.
Tomorrow · Tuesday · Part 2 of 2
Gaza City port. October 11 2023. Named. Verified. Photographed.