Operation Cast Lead Part 7 White Phosphorous
On the 5th of January, the Al-Wafa hospital, at the eastern part of al-Shujaeiyah (east Gaza City), very close to the Israel-Gaza eastern border was attacked with artillery fire, including white phosphorous shells. On 6th of January, white phosphorous shells landed close to the administrative building and on its roof. The hospital was attacked again on the 16th of January 2009 at 2 a.m. The building for elderly patients on the ground and third floors, the roof as well as the third and fourth floors of the central hospital building were severely damaged.
Perhaps one of the most horrifying aspects of Cast Lead was the widespread use of white phosphorous.
Human Rights Watch, which devoted a whole report to the phenomenon, wrote: “White phosphorus ignites and burns on contact with oxygen, and continues burning at up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (816 degrees Celsius) until nothing is left or the oxygen supply is cut. When white phosphorus comes into contact with skin it creates intense and persistent burns, sometimes to the bone. Infection is common and the body’s absorption of the chemical can cause serious damage to internal organs, as well as death.”
Amnesty reported: “During Operation Cast Lead Israeli forces made extensive use of white phosphorus, often launched from 155mm artillery shells, in residential areas, causing death and injuries to civilians. Homes, schools, medical facilities and UN buildings — all civilian objects — took direct hits ... Israeli forces often air-burst white phosphorus artillery shells over residential areas of Gaza. Artillery shells are for use on conventional battlefields and are not capable of pinpoint targeting. White phosphorus artillery shells used in air-burst mode cover an even larger area, as each shell explodes in mid-air and ejects 116 sponge-like lumps of felt impregnated with white phosphorus, which ignite on contact with oxygen and cascade down over an area the size of a football pitch or larger, depending on the height at which it is burst and wind conditions. In addition to the indiscriminate effect of air-bursting such a weapon, firing these shells as artillery exacerbates the likelihood that civilians will be endangered ... White phosphorus is extremely dangerous for humans as it causes deep burns through muscle and down to the bone, continuing to burn until deprived of oxygen. It can contaminate other parts of the body, or even people treating the injuries, poisoning and irreparably damaging internal organs. Burn victims suffering a relatively small percentage of burns — 10 to 20 per cent — who would normally survive, often die if the burns are from white phosphorus ... The Israeli army is fully aware of the dangers of white phosphorus for human beings. Documents written during Operation Cast Lead by the office of the Israeli army Chief Medical Officer and Medical Field Operations Headquarters highlight some of the effects. A document signed by Colonel Dr. Gil Hirschorn, head of trauma in the office of the army’s Chief Medical Officer, states: “When the phosphorus comes in contact with living tissue it causes its damage by “eating” away at it. Characteristics of phosphorus wounds are: chemical burns accompanied by extreme pain, damage to tissue ... the phosphorus may seep into the body and damage internal organs. In the long run, kidney failure and the spread of infection are characteristic ... In conclusion: a wound by an ordnance containing explosive phosphorus is inherently dangerous and has the potential to cause serious damage to tissue.”
Another document entitled “Exposure to White Phosphorus”, prepared by Medical Field Operations Headquarters and sent from the Health Ministry, notes: “Most of the data on phosphorus wounds stems from animal testing and accidents. Exposure to white phosphorus is highly poisonous, according to many lab experiments. Burns covering a small area of the body, 12-15 percent in lab animals and less than 10 percent in humans, may be lethal as a result of its effects, mostly on the liver, heart and kidneys.”
Many Israeli soldiers were distressed by its use. One IDF soldier stated: “In training you learn that white phosphorus is not used, and you’re taught that it’s not humane.” Another said: “There was no need for such intense fire, no need to use mortars, phosphorus ammunition. Others as well as myself have a certain feeling that the army was looking for the opportunity to hold a spectacular maneuver in order to show its muscle.” Some were not so critical. When asked why phosphorus was fired one soldier replied: “Because it’s fun. Cool.”
“Sabah Abu Halima, a mother of 10, was gravely injured” Amnesty International wrote “and lost her husband, four of her children and her daughter-in-law as a result of a devastating white phosphorus artillery attack on her family home. In the afternoon of the 4th of January 2009, she and her family were at home in the Sayafa area, in the north-west of Gaza, when three white phosphorus artillery shells crashed through the roof into her home. She told Amnesty International: “Everything caught fire. My husband and four of my children burned alive in front of my eyes; my baby girl, Shahed, my only girl, melted in my arms. How can a mother have to see her children burn alive? I couldn’t save them, I couldn’t help them; I was on fire. Now I am still burning all over, I am in pain day and night; I am suffering terribly.”
Amnesty International reported: “Sixteen-year-old Samia Salman Al-Manay’a, speaking to Amnesty International from a hospital bed, 10 days after a white phosphorus shell landed on her house in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza on the 10th of January: “It’s as though a fire is burning in my body. It’s too much for me to bear. In spite of all the medicine they are giving me the pain is still so strong.”