WHITE
PHOSPHORUS – SCI & TECH
News:
Israel using white
phosphorus in Gaza?
What's
in the news?
●
Global human rights organisations Amnesty
International and Human Rights Watch have accused the Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) of using white phosphorus munitions in Gaza and Lebanon, in violation of
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which lays down the responsibilities of
states and non-state groups in an armed conflict.
Key
takeaways:
●
White phosphorus is a pyrophoric that ignites when exposed to oxygen, producing thick,
light smoke as well as intense 815-degree Celsius heat.
○
Pyrophoric substances are those which
ignite spontaneously or very quickly (under five minutes) when in contact with
air.
White
Phosphorus:
●
White phosphorus is a waxy,
yellowish-to-clear chemical with a pungent,
garlic-like odour.
●
It is a highly combustible chemical that burns quickly and brightly when
exposed to air.
●
It is used in incendiary weapons by militaries around the world for a variety of
purposes, such as illuminating targets at night or to inflict damage on
enemies.
●
It burns
at a temperature of 800°C and spontaneously ignites at up to 1,300 degrees
Celsius when it is exposed to oxygen, producing white, dense smoke, which is
used by armies to create smokescreens in sensitive zones.
●
White phosphorus can cause fast-moving and
widespread fires on the ground.
●
Once ignited, the substance is very
difficult to put out, as it clings to many surfaces, including skin and
clothing.
●
Since it is a wax-like substance, it is
very hard to remove and often lights up again when the bandages are removed.
●
White
phosphorus munitions are not banned under international law,
but because of their incendiary effects, their use is supposed to be tightly
regulated.
Globally
Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals:
●
Under the Globally Harmonized System of
Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, the internationally agreed-upon
system to standardize chemical hazard classification and communication, white
phosphorus falls under “Pyrophoric
solids, category 1”, which includes chemicals that catch fire
“spontaneously” when exposed to air. It is among the most unstable of
pyrophoric substances.
White
Phosphorous usage in wars:
●
The British army used it in both World Wars.
●
US forces, after invading Iraq, used the
chemical weapon against insurgents in the city of Fallujah.
●
Israel admitted that it used phosphorus
shells during the battle against Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon War.
Go
back to basics:
Incendiary
weapons:
●
They are weapons or munitions designed to
set fire to objects or cause burns or respiratory injuries to people through
the action of flame, heat or a combination thereof, resulting from a chemical
reaction of a flammable substance such as napalm or white phosphorus.
●
In 1972, the United Nations General
Assembly passed a resolution calling incendiary weapons a "category of
arms viewed with horror."
●
The definition in Article 1 of Protocol
III of the Convention on Certain
Conventional Weapons excludes multipurpose munitions, particularly those
containing white phosphorus.
●
Because white phosphorus has legal uses,
shells filled with it are not directly prohibited by international humanitarian
law. on the civilian population of Gaza.