As I was mind-sifting through topics to blog about, I thought about a news blurb I saw briefly when I was in Israel... The question of White Phosphorus shells (a chemical weapon that would be absolutley illegal to use in densely populated Gaza although not illegal in itself in war times in order to smokescreen moving troops) being used repeatedly was briefed by BBC news beginning in mid-January.
As I was watching, I really was in disbelief that Israel could be using the substance, especially amidst so many claims of their overly violent offensive in Gaza over those 21 days.
However, I haven't heard much about this massive breach of international code since. Now, looking in to a variety of news and news-related sites and blogs, it has in fact been getting a lot of attention from both the Arab and Euro-Americans.
An article on Amnesty Internation position states that " In response to the claims ... relating to the use of phosphorus weapons, and in order to remove any ambiguity, an investigative team has been established in southern command to look into the issue," the Israeli army said.In response to Amnesty's accusations, a military spokesman said on Monday the army "uses weapons in compliance with international law, while strictly observing that they be used in accordance with the type of combat and its characteristics."Amnesty is not the first group to accuse Israel of using white phosphorus -- Human Rights Watch made the accusation on Jan. 10, in the midst of the fighting, and the United Nations also said it believed the munition had been used.
However, Amnesty's accusations were made on the basis of an on-the-ground study by a British weapons expert following the ceasefire put into force by Israel and Hamas on Sunday.Weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith, who visited Gaza as part of a four-person Amnesty team, said he had found widespread evidence of the use of the incendiary material."We saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still-burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army," he said in a statement.
As an interesting rebuke to these inflammatory accusations Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said on Monday she was "at peace" with the actions Israel had taken during the conflict, but also said the nation should be prepared to fend off international accusations of war crimes.
My question is how involved will the US be on these claims, and what will their position obviously suggest? Especially since the US has been accused of using the same white phosphorus in the same illegal method in Fallujah, how tightly bound can we be to Israel's action when they have been decidedly criminal at times?(http://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/americas/us/war_crimes_fallujah.html)
Bringing in the media aspect, why is this not being more heavily reported? And, is this a US media phenomenon, or as with so many war crimes is this simply not the time to bring it to the table in any too-open forum?
