Israelis admit missile use may have been illegal

AFTER weeks of strenuous denial that it had used white phosphorous in the heavily populated Gaza Strip, Israel finally admitted yesterday that the controversial weapon had been deployed in its offensive. The army's use of white phosphorous -- with its distinctive shell burst of dozens of separate smoke trails -- was revealed on January 5, and denied by the army. Now, in the face of mounting evidence, Israel has been forced to backtrack. "Yes, phosphorous was used, but not in any illegal manner," Yigal Palmor, a foreign ministry spokesman said. "Some practices could be illegal but we are going into that. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is holding an investigation concerning one specific unit and one incident." The incident in question is believed to be the firing of white phosphorous shells at a UN school in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17. The shells are legal if used as a battlefield smokescreen but banned from deployment in civilian areas. Ambulances Pictures of the attack show Palestinian medics fleeing parked ambulances as dozens of blobs of burning phosphorous rain down on the compound. A senior army official also admitted yesterday that shells containing phosphorous had been used in Gaza, but insisted that the aim of their deployment had been to provide a smokescreen. Before the attack the Ministry of Defence had asked lawyers to investigate the legal consequences of deploying white phosphorous inside the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. "From what I know, at least one month before it was used, a legal team had been consulted on the implications," said an Israeli defence official. White phosphorous is commonly stocked in NATO arsenals and is used by US and British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because Israel is not a signatory to the treaty that created the International Court of Justice in The Hague, it cannot be tried there. What concerns Israel is that any country that is a signatory to the Geneva Convention can try and prosecute individuals who took part in the Gaza operation as culpable of war crimes. Amnesty International said that Israel's reluctance to admit its use of the munitions had cost lives. Most victims were treated as normal burns cases Amnesty said, but the phosphorous particles embedded in the flesh kept burning under the dressings, sometimes causing irreparable damage to internal organs.