cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15158511
“Overnight and into the early hours of the morning, the Israeli military continued to pound parts of eastern Rafah city,” Al Jazeera reported, adding that health facilities in Rafah are unable to accommodate large numbers of casualties.
The Israeli army has repeatedly used white phosphorus on civilians in Gaza and Lebanon since the start of the war. Rights groups have called for an urgent investigation after several Palestinian corpses were found vaporized in Gaza, suggesting Israel’s possible use of illegal thermobaric weapons to target civilians.
The UN has warned that Israel’s ongoing operation at the Rafah crossing threatens to seriously hinder humanitarian aid efforts.
A four-month-old baby, a six-year-old, and an eight-year-old were killed by an Israeli bombing on the Qishta family home in Rafah on Tuesday afternoon. One man was also killed in an airstrike near the Rafah border crossing.
White phosphorus is incredibly easy to obtain in small volumes (if you have a matchbook you already have some red phosphorus), and in larger volumes it’s found in some pretty common minerals. Unfortunately the possible damage done or weapons use of a material isn’t always reflected in how difficult it is to obtain. According to the ACS 900,000 tons are produced annually & mostly used in fertilizer and pesticide.
https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/w/white-phosphorus.html