Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza and Lebanon puts civilians at risk of serious and long-term injuries, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a question and answer document on white phosphorus.
Munitions which may have incidental incendiary effects, such as illuminants, tracers, smoke or signalling systems
Of which White Phosphorus is typically within that category. It is incendiary and can randomly burn people, homes, and fields but the intended use is usually not to set fire but to provide cover, illumination, tracing, or signalling. There just happens to be a burning side effect that the UN usually shrugs off.
How it's used however can become a war crime. Article II of the same Protocol § 2 and 3
It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.
and
It is further prohibited to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by means of incendiary weapons other than air-delivered incendiary weapons, except … and all feasible precautions are taken with a view to limiting the incendiary effects to the military objective…
So basically, you cannot deliver via aircraft, which video indicates that these were ground launched 155mm white phosphorus artillery projectiles, so check on (2), BUT it's debatable that Israel followed (3) and took all precautions to minimize civilians getting in the way. But I mean, does anyone really believe the UN holds anyone to any kind of scrutiny?
Using it against infantry targets is, but WP use by itself does not necessarily indicate a war crime
It's commonly used by nations around the world to produce smoke for the purposes of concealment or signaling/marking
I'm inclined to believe their intended use here are as artillery spotting rounds to guage whether fire is accurate or not, it's not like Israel doesn't have plenty of more effective conventional ways to kill people if that was their goal with these WP rounds
I would probably call its usage in such a densely populated urban area reckless and callous at best but that's the name of the game in war unfortunately
it’s not like Israel doesn’t have plenty of more effective conventional ways to kill people
All modern militaries have other effective ways to kill people.
However, killing civillians on purpose and maiming them with deep open wounds that are resource-intensive to treat is normally seen as a war crime, and a weapon that is openly designed for that would raise even more international condemnation.
This is probably the reason we repeatedly see white phosphorus used against civilians in conflicts where permanent territorial occupation is a goal (other examples by Russia in Ukraine, by Indonesia in West Papua). It has a terrifying, catastrophic effect on members of the population, and there is (im)plausible deniability.
The excuse of using it as a "smokescreen" really does act as, well, a smokescreen.
It was obvious to anyone the unprovoked attack of this nature would be met with massive retaliation. Hamas has cancelled all democratic elections and are holding the Palestinian people hostage. They then decided to make a decision that would cause mass suffering to its own citizens.
Isreal is definetely evil, but Hamas is wickedly evil. Hamas is fully responsible for this current crisis.