News: Human Rights Watch accused Israel of “unlawfully” using white phosphorus over residential parts of a southern Lebanese town.
About White Phosphorus as Military Warhead
- White phosphorus is a chemical substance that ignites when it comes in contact with oxygen and burns at extremely high temperatures.
- Properties:
- Colour and odour: It is a white to yellow waxy solid with a garlic like odour.
- It ignites spontaneously in air at temperatures above 30 °C and continues to burn until it is fully oxidized or until deprived of oxygen.
- Burning phosphorus produces dense, white, irritating smoke containing mixed phosphorus oxides.
- Applications:
- Military use: It is used for military purposes in grenades and artillery shells to produce illumination, to generate a smokescreen and as an incendiary.
- Industrial use: It is used in industries for the production of phosphoric acid, phosphates and other compounds.
- Effects of exposure:
- It keeps burning when exposed to oxygen, causing extremely deep burns that can destroy skin, muscle, and even bone.
- It also releases toxic smoke that damages eyes, lungs and internal organs if it enters the bloodstream.
- Regulation of its use:
- It is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
- Its use is regulated by the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), specifically Protocol III, which governs incendiary weapons.
- The treaty does not prohibit white phosphorus outright, but it places restrictions on how incendiary weapons can be used.
- If white phosphorus is used in a way that scatters burning fragments over densely populated areas, it can violate fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
