Gaza doctors struggle to treat deadly burns consistent with white phosphorus
Gaza doctors struggle to treat deadly burns consistent with white phosphorus
Dozens dying after Israeli attacks from injuries 'unlike any seen before' that medics say should not be fatal
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 January 2009 17.11 GMT
- Article history
Doctors in Gaza described today how they had struggled to treat dozens of patients with terrible and unusually deadly burns consistent with white phosphorus weapons, during Israel's three-week war in Gaza.
Nafiz Abu Shabaan, head of the burns unit at Shifa hospital and the most senior burns surgeon in Gaza, said 60 to 70 patients had died in his unit during the war from severe burns that were unlike any injury he had previously seen.
Patients with only relatively small burn injuries, which ought to be survivable, were dying unexpectedly.
His account, along with evidence from survivors, corroborates mounting evidence from groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that the Israeli military fired phosphorus shells into populated areas of Gaza in direct violation of international humanitarian law. Amnesty said it believes Israel is guilty of a war crime.
White phosphorus is allowed to be used as a smokescreen on the battlefield in certain situations, but its use in civilian areas is prohibited under United Nations conventions.
The Israeli military has at times denied using white phosphorus, and at other times has said only that it uses weapons "in compliance with international law".
posted by temporal at 1/21/2009
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