Palestine accused Israel of attacking civilian areas in the Gaza Strip with incendiary weapons containing phosphorus.
The Foreign Ministry, via the X platform, claimed that “the Israeli occupation is using white phosphorus bombs against Palestinians in the Karama neighborhood in northern Gaza,” which is prohibited by international law. Rami Abdo, the founder of the European Observatory for Human Rights, shared a video clip on the same platform, alleging that Israel was using phosphorus bombs in the northwest of Gaza City on densely populated areas. “Israeli military forces are employing toxic white phosphorus [bombs],” he said. Reports of Israel’s use of white phosphorus bombs in Gaza during previous battles had been mentioned by the New York-based rights organization, Human Rights Watch.
Although the 1980 Geneva Convention restricts their use in densely populated areas, the deployment of white phosphorus weapons to create a smokescreen and conceal army movements is permissible. Israel has not issued any comments on these allegations. Following a multi-front Hamas assault on Israeli cities near the coastal region, Israel continued its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for a third consecutive day on Tuesday.
According to Hamas, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem is a hotspot for Israeli violations, and settler violence has escalated, leading Hamas to claim responsibility for the attack. According to the Health Ministry of Gaza, the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has resulted in at least 830 Palestinian deaths and 4,250 injuries. Meanwhile, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, there have been over 1,000 Israeli casualties.