Israel's Persecution and the Phosphorus Bomb

Israel's Persecution and the Phosphorus Bomb. 8 people were killed, 508 people were injured in the attacks launched by Israel against Palestine since 3 July, and Israel continues to commit all war crimes.
Among the most despicable of these Phosphorus Bomb is coming. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Director of Vefa Hospital said that Israel used phosphorus bombs.

Al Jazeera According to sources, the Israeli army is hitting the districts of Tuffah, Shecaiyya and Zeytun, where it massacred civilians on Sunday, with phosphorus bombs.

Basman Elashi said, “Israel is using some new chemicals. We cannot interfere with them with the drugs we have. Our doctors cannot treat them. "Israel is using phosphorus bombs, that's true," he said.

Al Jazeera Correspondent Vael Duhduh said, “The northeast of the Shajaiyya district is under heavy bombardment. Shaif Region is being hit with phosphorus bombs. Gaza medical teams say it is impossible to enter the area. Even moving animals are targeted. There is a terrible bombardment. Houses inhabited by civilians are targeted without any purpose. They also open fire from tanks,” he noted. Israel also used phosphorus bombs in the Gaza attacks in 2009 and 2012.

So What Is This Phosphorus Bomb?

White phosphorus is an allotrope of the element phosphorus. Inhalation of phosphorus fumes causes sudden wounds in the lungs and suffocation of the inhaler. In the next stage, the human body burns from the inside out. Most of the time, there is not much scarring on the clothes of the person burned with white phosphorus, and the burning reaction continues from the inside of the body to the skin. Photographs taken after the use of white phosphorus revealed that there were victims who were burned to the bone, but with smooth clothes. Once the combustion reaction starts, it cannot be stopped. The final effect is the same as the napalm bomb, or worse.

Erciyes University (EU) Faculty of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry faculty member Prof. Dr. Abdullah Çoban on January 16, 2009 Time In his article published in his newspaper, he said that "white phosphorus used in bomb making starts to burn as soon as it comes into contact with oxygen and it can burn the body 5-10 times its thickness. He stated that the production of white phosphorus, a very toxic element, requires high technology.

Expressing that white phosphorus is one of the most dangerous chemicals known, Çoban said:

“White phosphorus, which is used in bomb making, starts to burn as soon as it comes into contact with oxygen and burns the body 5-10 times its thickness. Therefore, its contact with oxygen should be cut off from its production. Thus, it can be stored for years. Phosphorus bombs allegedly used by Israel in Gaza are probably also dropped with another bomb. Because, in the published images, it is seen that the white phosphorus burned down after the bomb exploded. This causes people to get burned by sticking on them.”
Shepherd stated that the burning reaction of white phosphorus can only be stopped in water, “However, as soon as it comes out of the water, it starts to burn again and continues to burn until it ends. Because once the reaction has started, it is impossible to reverse it”.
Expressing that the burning time of white phosphorus varies depending on the environmental temperature and humidity, Shepherd said that this substance can even burn human bones.
Shepherd, noting that the gases emitted by the exploding bombs are also dangerous, said, “Even if the exploding bombs do not kill, the gases emitted by them can be lethal. For example, nitrous oxide causes infertility, while sulfur oxide is a suffocating gas. Their effects also depend on air circulation. If the weather is windy, these gases disperse quickly and may lose their effect,” he said.

What About Its History?
White phosphorus is thought to have been first used by Fenian (Irish Independence Organizations) arsonists in the 19th century in the form of a solution in carbon disulfide. When carbon disulfide evaporates, phosphorus flames are formed.
The first Factory Made phosphorus bomb was made by the British in 1916.

During the Second World War, the Americans used white phosphorus bombs against the Germans and Japanese, and in 2, the British military used white phosphorus bombs against the Kurdish villagers and the city of Al-Habbaniyah in the Al-Anbar province during the Great Iraqi Revolution.
Later, in the Korean and Vietnam wars, by the Russians in Chechnya, by Saddam Hussein in the Iraq-Iran war,
In 2004, again on the side of the Americans, in Fallujah, Iraq,
In the Israeli-Lebanese conflict (2006)
It was used in Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009, 2012 and most recently in 2014.

  International war convention:
One point emphasized by the US sources is that the use of white phosphorus is not contrary to international military agreements. Indeed, this substance is not specifically prohibited under any treaty. A debate is ongoing over whether white phosphorus weapons should be considered chemical weapons and for these reasons to be considered prohibited under the April 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In this context, it is interesting that the US military literature on white phosphorus persistently speaks of this 'metal' because phosphorus is not a metal. Follow-up of the implementation of the CWC Convention is provided by the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Agency. The spokesperson of the institution, Peter Kaiser, stated that the use of white phosphorus for lighting purposes is not prohibited; however, it states that the toxic properties of this substance are prohibited from being used as a weapon. However, even if it is used as a weapon, it can be argued that white phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon, by arguing that the caustic effect of the reaction created by mixing with air is dangerous rather than its toxic properties.
In this case, white phosphorus as a incendiary weapon falls within the scope of the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention. This convention prohibits the use of incendiary weapons on civilian populations or in airstrikes where civilians are concentrated. Although the USA is a party to this convention, III. did not sign the protocol.

 

Resources we use: time

the gazetevat

en.wikipedia

Aljazeera

📩 21/07/2014 14:22