• dumdum666@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    27
    ·
    1 year ago

    There is not a single sentence in the article that suggests that Israel is using phosphor as a weapon. As the article stated - it is routinely used as smokescreen or to mark areas.

    • ???@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      37
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Israel always says it uses it for that but there are numerous cases of them targeting civilians with it on purpose

      https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/questions-and-answers-israels-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-and-lebanon

      It’s good to look at the whole paragraph:

      From December 27, 2008, to January 18, 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military fired approximately 200 ground-launched white phosphorus munitions into populated areas of Gaza. Israeli forces relied particularly on 155mm M825E1 artillery projectiles, which send burning phosphorus wedges 125 meters in all directions, giving them a broad area effect. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Israeli military used the shells only to create smokescreens. Whatever their ostensible purpose, however, Human Rights Watch found dozens of civilian casualties in the six incidents it documented. The white phosphorus shells also damaged civilian structures, including a school, a market, a humanitarian aid warehouse, and a hospital.

      Israel always “says” something then “does” something totally different with it.

        • ???@lemmy.worldOP
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          14
          arrow-down
          7
          ·
          1 year ago

          How is the HRW biased against Israel? Back up that claim first.

          • dumdum666@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            19
            ·
            1 year ago

            How is the HRW biased against Israel? Back up that claim first.

            So you have read the Wikipedia Article I included with my last post and don’t find it sufficient?

            • scrape@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              14
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              I read it. David Bernstein the comic book writer has an agenda against HRW. Also the criticisms do not dispute the accuracy of the reporting from HRW. Instead they attack the HRW for not siding with Israel.

              Also there are personal attacks on the HRW investigator who accurately reported on WP because he called some piece of Nazi paraphernalia “cool” once.

            • ???@lemmy.worldOP
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              14
              arrow-down
              7
              ·
              1 year ago

              No, sorry, I actually didn’t for some reason.

              And now that I have I’m even more convinced it’s bullshit. Seems like Israel consistently wants to silence people report in on its war crimes.

      • ???@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        21
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Not to mention that we can couple this with Israel cutting off water, electricity, fuel, and humanitarian aid off Gaza. What is the result?

      • dumdum666@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        14
        ·
        1 year ago

        So what is the practical Alternative to create a smokescreen or mark an area that does not involve the use of white phosphor?

    • PugJesus@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      WP is ugly stuff, and militaries the world round use the '“It’s just a smokescreen” excuse.

      In every case, it’s blatant lies. WP is useful as a smokescreen, but much more useful as a means of flushing people from cover. Conveniently, the process for blinding an enemy entrenched position with smoke and burning them out with WP is pretty similar, and governments love plausible deniability.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      The pictures alone tell the story. The shells are air bursting which is better for shrapnel distribution, not smoke distribution. It’s basically a giant neon sign saying they’re committing war crimes.