The White Phosphorus Files - Week 1 Part 2
White Phosphorus · Part 1 of 4 · 2 of 2
Yesterday the science and the law. Today what happened when both met Gaza City port.
October 11 2023. The verified video. The airburst. The munition type. The IDF denial. The independent confirmation. The same weapon over the same city after a court pledge.
Human Rights Watch. October 12 2023. Verified video and witness accounts.
02 / 08
Gaza City port. October 11 2023. Airburst 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles. Verified.
Human Rights Watch verified video footage and witness accounts confirming Israeli forces used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza on October 11 2023.
The verified video shows multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over Gaza City port.
Human Rights Watch identified the munitions as 155mm M825E1 artillery projectiles.
Those projectiles disperse 116 burning felt wedges impregnated with white phosphorus over an area between 125 and 250 meters in diameter.
Human Rights Watch also interviewed two witnesses by phone from the al-Mina area in Gaza City who described observing the strikes.
Source: Human Rights Watch, "Israel: White Phosphorus Used in Gaza, Lebanon," October 12 2023 · Human Rights Watch Q&A, October 12 2023 · AFP photo by Mohammed Adeb, geolocated and verified by HRW
IDF statement vs documented evidence. Both on record.
03 / 08
The IDF said it was "unequivocally false." The Washington Post confirmed the video. HRW confirmed the munitions.
The IDF stated: "The current accusation made against the IDF regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false."
That statement was issued on October 13 2023 and confirmed by Al Jazeera and multiple outlets.
The Washington Post independently confirmed the video.
Human Rights Watch identified 155mm M825E1 artillery projectiles.
AFP photography was verified and geolocated.
Two witnesses were interviewed.
The denial and the evidence are both on the record.
Source: IDF statement October 13 2023, via Al Jazeera · The Washington Post independent video confirmation October 2023 · Human Rights Watch October 12 2023, munition identification
Human Rights Watch. Six documented incidents from 2009 and 2023.
04 / 08
The white phosphorus shells damaged a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse, and a hospital.
Human Rights Watch documented dozens of civilian casualties and civilian structure damage in the incidents it investigated.
The 155mm M825E1 airburst shells spread 116 burning felt wedges over an area up to 250 meters in diameter.
In Gaza, one of the most densely populated territories on earth, that dispersion pattern means every airburst over a populated area presents immediate risk to civilians.
Damaged structures included a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse and a hospital.
Human Rights Watch found no evidence the use was militarily justified at those locations.
Source: Human Rights Watch Q&A October 12 2023, civilian structure damage · HRW, "Beyond Burning" November 2024, civilian casualty documentation · Lama Fakih, HRW Middle East director, on-record statement
Amnesty International. UN Human Rights Office. Both on record.
05 / 08
Amnesty International and the UN both confirmed white phosphorus use in populated areas in Gaza and Lebanon.
On October 30 2023, Amnesty International documented that an October 16 attack on the Lebanese border village of Dhayra using white phosphorus munitions was "an indiscriminate attack that injured at least nine civilians and damaged civilian objects."
Amnesty confirmed the munitions were US-supplied.
The UN Human Rights Office also confirmed Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza.
Human Rights Watch verified use in at least 17 municipalities across south Lebanon between October 2023 and June 2024.
Source: Amnesty International, Dhayra attack documentation October 30 2023 · UN Human Rights Office statement 2023 · Human Rights Watch, Lebanon documentation June 5 2024 · Washington Post independent investigation, US-supplied munitions
Israel's own court pledge. 2013. What happened in 2023.
06 / 08
After 2009 Israel told its own court it would stop using white phosphorus in populated areas "except in two narrow situations."
Human Rights Watch documented that Israel used white phosphorus extensively during its bombardment of Gaza in 2009.
That use drew widespread international condemnation.
In 2013, in response to a petition before Israel's High Court of Justice regarding those 2009 attacks, the Israeli military claimed it would no longer use white phosphorus in populated areas except in two narrow situations it revealed only to the justices.
In October 2023, fourteen years after that pledge, Human Rights Watch verified airburst white phosphorus over Gaza City port.
The pledge and the documentation exist at the same time.
Source: Human Rights Watch Q&A October 12 2023, 2009 use and 2013 pledge · Israel High Court of Justice petition 2013, referenced by HRW · HRW "Beyond Burning" November 2024
We are not making a claim. We are asking a question.
07 / 08
Verified by HRW. Confirmed by Amnesty. Confirmed by the UN. Photographed by AFP. A pledge made in 2013 to Israel's own court. The same weapon over the same city in 2023. What does accountability look like here?
Three independent named bodies confirmed it.
The IDF denied it.
The Washington Post confirmed the video.
Israel is not a party to Protocol III.
The ICRC says customary law applies regardless.
Next week: Lebanon.
Named towns.
Named victims.
The same weapon on the same week.
Gaza confirmed. Lebanon on the same week.
Next Week · Part 2 of 4
Lebanon. Dhayra. Ayta ash Shab. 17 municipalities. The same week. US-supplied munitions confirmed.