Human Rights Watch confirmed that Israel is using white phosphorus in its military aggression on Gaza and Lebanon.
In a question-and-answer document released on Thursday, the group said that it “verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively, showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border”.
White phosphorus, according to HRW, “has the potential to cause civilian harm due to the severe burns it causes and its lingering long-term effects on survivors.”
“Its use in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the requirement under international humanitarian law that parties to the conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life”.
White phosphorus “causes severe burns, often down to the bone, that are slow to heal and likely to develop infections,” the report reads.
This is not the first time Israel has used white phosphorus in a war against the besieged Gaza Strip.
read more: https://www.palestinechronicle.com/hrw-confirms-israel-is-using-white-phosphorus-in-gaza/
They will probably need it for illumination when the ground war starts but they definitely don’t need it during air raids.
If we’re talking actual air raids as in bombing runs, then yeah, it’s still useful for illuminating your target. Less so for rocket and artillery attacks.