Phosphorus bomb
Smoke
"Experts have called out Israel after a video purportedly showed the alleged use of white phosphorus bombs in densely populated areas.
The matter is contested, but WION here decodes everything you need to know about the white phosphorus bombs.
What are white phosphorus bombs?
White phosphorus is a waxy crystalline solid, which turns dark on exposure to light. This toxic substance comes in white to yellow transparent. White phosphorus has a match-like or garlic-like, acrid odour, however, it is not feasible to depend on odour for its detection.
It is used by the military in the form of various types of ammunition as an incendiary agent because it spontaneously catches fire in the air when it comes into contact with oxygen.
The substance is also used by the militaries across the world as a smoke agent because it produces clouds of irritating white smoke.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an intergovernmental implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, has not listed White Phosphorous in any of the three Schedules of Chemical Weapons.
White phosphorus can ignite fast-burning and fast-spreading fires on the ground, and several reports have claimed it is extremely difficult to extinguish once ignited."
"White phosphorus does not occur naturally as it is manufactured using phosphate rocks. As per international laws, the use of white phosphorus shells is prohibited in heavily populated civilian areas. However, the laws allow its usage in open spaces to be used as cover for troops.
White phosphorus weapons are not banned, but their use in civilian areas is considered a war crime.
Human Rights Watch has said that there have been documented civilian deaths from the use of white phosphorus in war zones in countries and areas such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Gaza."
Israel has launched incessant air strikes at Hamas targets in Gaza after members of the Palestinian militant group stormed Israeli towns in the first week of October in a surprise and unprecedented assault. The attack by Hamas on Saturday (Oct 7) was launched from the Gaza enclave, killing...
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