It certainly looks that way in Gaza as the UN, Human Rights Watch and now Amnesty International have accused Israel of using white phosphorus in densely populated areas. White phosphorus is a truly hot item; it burns until its contact with oxygen is eliminated, which means that it burns through flesh and bone. It is not banned by international law, but the law is a tricky thing. It does speak of the indiscriminate use of weapons in a civilian area as a possible basis of charges of war crimes.
Amnesty's munitions expert who visited Gaza on Sunday said, "Artillery is an area weapon; not good for pinpoint targeting. The fact that these munitions, which are usually used as ground burst, were fired as air bursts increases the likely size of the danger area”.
Israel has yet to respond to these charges other than to say it is investigating them.
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