Gaza injuries put focus on phosphorus

[DogPoundPup]

Sabah Abu Halema lies on her bed in Gaza’s Shifa hospital, her arms and legs covered in once-white bandages, and her hands covered in brown scabs.

“You should tell everyone about these scandalous acts by the Israelis,” she told the Financial Times on Thursday.

“My house, my family, everything, is destroyed. And I can’t sleep at night or during the day. I can’t even get up from my bed,” says the 45-year-old from Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza.

Mrs Abu Halema is a victim of white phosphorus burns after being caught in a bombing early in the 22-day Israeli assault on Gaza, doctors in Shifa hospital say.

White phosphorus shells – commonly used in combat as an obscurant – were among the controversial weapons used that are against international law, according to Amnesty International, the human rights organisation.

Investigations are also under way into the alleged use of Dense Inert Metal Explosive (Dime) weapon – which sprays sharp pieces of charged tungsten dust over a four-metre radius, causing localised but horrific injuries – and of depleted uranium, which enables munitions to penetrate armour.

“We are seeing very, very serious violations of international law, including violations that could constitute war crimes,” said Donatella Rovera of Amnesty.

Israel has this week conceded that it “may” have used white phosphorus in Gaza, but denied allegations it used other prohibited weapons, including depleted uranium. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, is investigating.

more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83af8560-e8ba-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac.html

[Bonobo]

1. Please name a war or military action where the US did not use Phosphorus.

Thanks in advance.

[bemildred]

2. Gettysburg? Yorktown? nt