2/18/2009

Phosphorous weapons – the ICRC's view



Peter Herby, head of the ICRC's Arms Unit, outlines the rules applicable to phosphorous weapons to explain the organization's approach to the issue.


Has the use of white phosphorous weapons by Israel in the current conflict in Gaza been confirmed?


Yes. According to widespread media reports, images and analysis from credible experts, phosphorous weapons have been used in the conflict.

What are the rules of international humanitarian law applicable to the use of phosphorous weapons and intended to spare civilians?

Let me begin by saying that there are fundamental rules stipulating that civilians must be protected from the effects of all military operations and that attacking civilians with any weapon is categorically prohibited.

The use of weapons containing white phosphorous is, like the use of any other weapon, regulated by the basic rules of international humanitarian law. These require parties to a conflict to discriminate between military objectives on the one hand and civilians and civilian objects on the other. The law also requires that they take all feasible precautions to prevent harm to civilians and civilian objects that can result from military operations. Attacks which cause "disproportionate" damage to civilians and to civilian objects are prohibited.

Using white phosphorous as an incendiary weapon, i.e. to set fire to military targets, is subject to further restrictions. The use of such white phosphorous weapons against any military objective within concentrations of civilians is prohibited unless the military objective is clearly separated from the civilians. The use of air-dropped incendiary weapons against military objectives within a concentration of civilians is simply prohibited. These prohibitions are contained in Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

In addition, customary international humanitarian law, which is applicable to all parties to any conflict, requires that particular care must be taken when attacking a military target with incendiary weapons containing white phosphorous, in order to avoid harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects. If this substance is used against fighters, the party using it is obliged to assess whether a less harmful weapon can be used to put the fighters out of action.

If munitions containing white phosphorous are used to mark military targets or to spread smoke then their use is regulated by the basic rules of international humanitarian law.

The fact that international humanitarian law does not specifically prohibit phosphorous weapons does not imply that any specific use of weapons containing this substance is legal. The legality of each incident of use has to be considered in light of all of the fundamental rules I have mentioned. It may be legal or not, depending on a variety of factors.

Does the ICRC consider white phosphorous weapons as they have been used in Gaza to be legal under international humanitarian law?

If ICRC delegates in the field gather credible and precise evidence of violations, or if ICRC medical personnel corroborate reports by others, the ICRC would begin by discussing this with the party concerned – rather than speaking publicly – in keeping with our standard practices. We have not commented publicly on the legality of the current use of phosphorous weapons by Israel, contrary to what has been attributed to us in recent media reports.

Does the use of weapons containing white phosphorous, in particular incendiary weapons, in a populated area give rise to any specific humanitarian concerns?


Yes. White phosphorous weapons spread burning phosphorous, which burns at over 800 degrees centigrade (about 1,500 degrees fahrenheit), over a wide area, up to several hundred square metres. The burning will continue until the phosphorous has been completely depleted or until it no longer is exposed to oxygen. The weapon has a potential to cause particularly horrific and painful injuries or slow painful death. Medical personnel must be specially trained to treat such injuries and may themselves be exposed to phosphorous burns. If used against military targets in or near populated areas, weapons containing this substance must be used with extreme caution to prevent civilian casualties.

ICRC

Israel launches air strikes on Gaza

Israeli warplanes struck a number of sites in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, causing some damage but no casualties, Palestinian residents and Hamas security officials said.

Residents said one air strike targeted tunnels which run under the Egyptian border at the town of Rafah that militants use to smuggle arms into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Another hit an already bombed security compound in the town of Khan Younis.

An Israeli army spokesman said the warplanes had hit seven tunnels and one other target in Gaza.

The strikes followed the firing of a mortar round into Israel by Gaza militants on Tuesday.

Since Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip that ended last month in a ceasefire, Israeli leaders have said they would respond very harshly to any firing of rockets or mortar bombs into the Jewish state.

Officials from the Islamist Hamas group and Israel are trying to cement an Egyptian-brokered deal for an extended ceasefire, the opening of Gaza's border crossings and a prisoner swap between the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to convene his security cabinet later on Wednesday to discuss the outline of such a deal and possibly vote on it.

(source: Reuters)

Israel debates prisoner exchange

Israel's security cabinet is debating the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a captured soldier.

The discussion comes as negotiations continue with the aim of establishing a long-term truce in Gaza following Israel's 22-day war on the Hamas-run territory.

The meeting on Wednesday comes a day after Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, insisted that Sergeant Gilad Shalit be released by his captors.

Shalit was captured in June 2006 in a cross-border raid by Palestinian fighters.

"We will negotiate his release first, and only then will we be willing to discuss things like the Gaza crossings and rebuilding the [Gaza] Strip," Olmert said during a tour of Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Israel imposed an economic blockade on Gaza, a small coastal territory that is home to 1.5 million Palestinians, after Hamas seized de facto control of the territory from their Fatah rivals in June 2007.

Sensitive deal

Jackie Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said that the prisoner exchange deal was a sensitive issue for the security cabinet.

"It would involve the possible release of Gilad Shalit ... Israel is aware that it would have to pay a price to get him back - that price being the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from a list drawn up by Hamas," she said.

"Most of those prisoners are people who Isrsel describes as having blood on their hands; people who have been convicted and imprisoned by Israeli courts for alleged murder or conspiring to murder.

Tel Aviv is likely to call for the release of Shalit before a long-term ceasefire with Hamas can be agreed, Rowland said.

"The argument of Olmert - one largely supported by the security cabinet - is that this prisoner exchange would have to be agreed before Israel is actually willing to agree to a ceasefire arrangement with Hamas in the Gaza Strip," she said.

Truce conditions

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' exiled political leader, has said that Olmert's position on releasing Shalit was not conducive to a lasting truce between Hamas and Israel.
"There can be no truce unless the [Gaza] blockade is lifted and the crossings are opened. The truce issue should not be linked to the issue of prisoner Shalit," Meshaal said in Damascus.

Olmert, whose term as prime minister is set to end soon, has suggested that a deal leading to Shalit's release could take time.

"Even if Shalit's case cannot be resolved while I am in office, the foundations we built will facilitate in his release," he said on Tuesday.

Egyptian officials have in recent weeks tried to secure a long-term truce deal between Hamas and Israel, following Israel's war on Gaza.

Hamas and Israel, which refuse to deal with each other directly, have each had ceasefire orders in place since January 18, but a bilateral truce has so far proved elusive.

Sporadic fighting

More than 1,300 Palestinians, at least a third of them women and children, died during 22 days of attacks by Israeli ground and air forces.

At least 13 Israelis were killed over the course of the war, which Tel Aviv says was aimed at preventing rockets from being fired from Gaza.

Israeli aircraft have continued to launch raids on targets in Gaza, while there has been sporadic rocket fire from Palestinian fighters.

The Israeli security council meeting comes just hours before Shimon Peres, the country's president, is due to begin consultations with political parties on the formation of a new government, following an indecisive general election.

The centrist Kadima party, led by foreign minister Tzipi Livni, won 28 seats in the parliament, just one more than Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party.

Despite Livni's narrow election victory, Netanyahu appears to have the backing of more parliamentarians in the 120-member Knesset [Israeli parliament] and is, therefore, tipped as the leader Peres is most likely to invite to form a coalition government.

While official election results are due on Wednesday evening, Peres has until February 25 to name the new prime minister.

(source: Al-Jazeera and agencies)

Gaza in pictures